To the great misfortune of both the rescuers and the two they rescued, it turned out that Rayne could not simply magic everyone back to the safety of the village. Though naturally curious why this might be the case, Lewa assumed no dishonesty or ill intent on the witch's part and didn't plan to press her further, but she went ahead and explained her reasoning for the others' benefit. The toa could not have imagined that somebody might possess such a conditional ability. Be it elemental or mask powers, after all, his brothers could wield their own talents at will, limited only by throughput and creativity. "Earn your thanks?" he repeated, trying to wrap his head around Rayne's bizarre power. Part of him couldn't help but be jokingly curious. "Well, that should be easy, yes? I would say you've more than earned it. You joined me on this search-trip after all. So thank you, for all your work-help!"

With a smile on his masked face he shrugged. "Of course, even if that worked, I wouldn't want to leave you out here to fly-wander by yourself. And our friend here still seems...well, offline." Crouching, he carefully inserted his arms beneath Elaine and lifted her hip. He expected his appearance to unsettle the baby in her arms, but for once he seemed to get a good reception. "So, we return the way we came. We need only retrace our path-steps."

That was easier said than done, however. Once he and the others made a careful ascent back up the slick, aged stone steps, Lewa came to a stop. For a few seconds he stood there in the downpour, raindrops pattering off his green armor. After that, though, he couldn't help but face the facts: that he had no idea which way he and Rayne came from. This forest was too new to him, its landmarks unknown and its trees unfamiliar. In his haste to find the Marcus' missing family, he'd neglected his duty as a woodsman and failed to mark his trail.

"Which way to go, again?" he asked. Hopefully this rain hadn't already grown so fierce that Rayne couldn't fly up above the canopy and get a lay of the land.

"Oh?" Remilia was more intrigued than disappointed when Rayne explained the intricacies of her teleportation power, all the minute details elaborating why all five of them couldn't simply be instantaneously transported back to this village. I see... so this curious ability of hers is built upon the concept of altruism. The more gratitude she receives, the more powerful she becomes, in a way, not unlike how deities in Gensokyo feed off devotion of their worshippers, the more they have, the more powerful they become. The Scarlet Devil mused as she casually rubbed her chin, continuing to listen to Rayne, "I won't deceive you, the fact that you can't teleport yourself and others who haven't yet established a Link with you doesn't quite help our current situation." Remilia's shoulders shrugged briefly, "However, tis' what it is." While she supposed Lewa and herself could be sent back by simply linking with Rayne, that'd leave the Knight-Witch alone with Elaine and her baby, that - obviously - wouldn't be a wise decision for their goal as rescuers.

"I am unable to say for sure as I do not know this human," The vampiress once again shrugged her shoulders, "But I do know this, every individual awakens at their own pace, depending on quite a number of factors. As far as my experience goes, the general pattern is that the more powerful an individual is, the faster they'll regain consciousness, and this human female appears to be an ordinary specimen of her kin." Remilia deduced as best as she could given her lack of knowledge about Elaine, "Furthermore, I must also mention that due to one reason or another, I've lost most of my prowess after my sudden exodus from Gensokyo," She paused briefly, "I may not appear as such, but I'm currently experiencing constant aches throughout my body even as we speak." So... once again, tis' what it is. "I believe we should let her awaken on her own, but if it's any consolation to you, Lady Rayne, I can assure you that she is now fine, alive, just unconscious."

With their next course of action set, Remilia took note that Lewa would be the one to carry the humans, a wise initiative considering what someone of his stature could do. "Of course, please lead the way, Sir Lewa." She elegantly gestured with her arm as the Toa of Air began ascending the stairs, back to where they came from, Remilia simply followed suit by hovering behind him.

"Tch..." Of course, the first thing she was immediately reminded of after their egress was the accursed rain, the endless, ceaseless, pouring droplets. And to think that I wasn't even given the chance to bring my parasol... Though her current apparel - bonnet, dress, and shoes all - had been enchanted to self-repair and self-clean over time, it didn't lessen the cold and damp discomfort of being drenched in rainwater. This, plus the revelation that the emerald-plated mechanical-man somehow managed to lose his sense of direction. ... Was Remilia perplexed? Somewhat, annoyed? Even more so, however, instead of making a sarcastic quip that'd achieve nothing, the gears in the Fate Seamstress' mind began turning. Peculiarly, without Remilia herself realizing it, losing her powers and being separated from her family and servants compelled the lost mistress to behave more pragmatic than usual, and she was already known to be the wisest member of the Scarlet Devil Manor.

Thus, after a moment of weaving the 'perfect' scheme, Remilia turned toward Rayne, "I'd normally loath to be a beggar, but as things stand, I must beseech you to lend me your headwear, Milady." Once the Halfling Knight-Witch had deigned to temporarily hand over her sizable hat to her, Remilia would use it as a makeshift umbrella as she began ascending toward the gloomy sky. Once she had gotten enough altitude, she'd survey the horizons, spotting a collection of man-made structures not too far away. That must be the village. After taking note of its general direction, she descended back down, her wings ceased flapping as her feet touched the rain-soaked ground.

"Thank you, Lady Knight-Witch." Though initially hesitant, she offered the hat back to its rightful owner. After that, she nodded at both Rayne and Lewa, "I've located the hamlet, I'll take us there." Without further ado - in no small part due to wanting to get some shelter - Remilia began trekking through the forest, toward the direction of the recently-raided village. There, she'd get her quite-overdue answers...

@DracoLunaris @Lugubrious

While the others went outside to check on whatever commotion had arisen, Sanae quickly put herself to work trying to keep the injured from succumbing to their injuries. Her miracles, though noteworthy in their own right, could only do so much on short notice (much less with next to nothing to work with). The lack of faith wasn't exactly helping matters much, either; while she would be perfectly fine functioning as a half-divinity with powers to match, if the caliber of the enemies to come was enough to hold herself and the others off...

The green-haired girl shook her head in an attempt to dispel those thoughts as she finished another ritual on an older man who seemed to have lost an arm in the attack. While his face had been pale and his breathing shallow when she had gotten to him, some vigor had returned to his body by the time the spell had been completed. Whether or not he could live on without that arm wasn't really something she could control, though; she could work miracles, but something like that would take way too much time and focus compared to the amount of people who needed to recover.

By the time Anne and the others had returned—this time, with a pair of new faces in tow—Sanae had managed to finish aiding a majority of the townsfolk who were at risk of dying on the spot... Or, well, a majority of those who hadn't already succumbed to their wounds. There were still those who were in pain or worse, of course, but the place seemed to at least have quieted down enough to hear the thoughts in her head.

Not like she would really have a chance to, though, when a quick glance towards the newcomers to acknowledge their presence swiftly became a double-take.

"...Eh? Konpaku? Why are you here?" she asked, staring in surprise at the half-ghost gardener before bringing one hand to her head. "Wait, no, it was probably that goddess, right? But why now, of all times?"

Before she could begin questioning the only familiar face present, though, Rayne and Lewa's return—with an injured civilian and yet another acquaintance in tow—only left Sanae even more confused than she had been last.

"Welcome back? But wait, that person with you... Huh?" she began to say, only to find herself thoroughly confused as to why the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion had also found herself in their company.

Whatever questions she might have had for that goddess apparent that had dragged them here only seemed to be growing by the second, but at the very least the knowledge that she hadn't been pulled here alone was an odd comfort in and of itself.

As the green-haired girl continued to try and piece together what she could about the situation before the others inevitably accosted her for answers, though, the man who had sent Rayne and Lewa off to find his family had quickly scrambled over to the group once he noticed their return. The concern and anxiety on his face swiftly turned to relief and joy as he took his wife and child back from the toa, and after confirming that the two were only wet from the rain but otherwise none the worse for wear...

Well, gratitude might have been a bit of an understatement.

"They're safe! Thank the gods!" he cried out, euphoria evident in his voice as he heard his wife's and child's shallow (but stable) breathing. "I can't thank you enough for finding them..."

All the while, though, Alvin seemed to continue watching the situation unfold, a complicated expression on his face as he continued to sit by his still-unconscious sister. By this point, the young boy had stopped trying to find what apparently wasn't present amidst the crowd, and it seemed as if his gaze finally panned back towards Anne and Joker in hopes that they might have the answers to the sole question burning itself into his mind.

Somehow, words didn't seem to be necessary to pick up what he wanted to ask the two of them.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Drifting Pollen@Vlad Tepes@EchoWolff@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious@Izurich

---

While all of this was going on, Alucard decided to merely fade into the background and disappear from the village entirely. He was not much for making alliances nor for camaraderie. Instead, the mysterious dhampir drifted along without another word until he was far...far away. He would go on this journey alone, it seemed, to discover the source of whatever it was that brought him here to this bizarre place. Whether he would find it, even he wouldn't know. And so, with nary a farewell gestured, Alucard vanished, never to be seen again...

...at least for now.

Tired as she was, Anne didn't really show any visible signs of relief or relaxation when the two newcomers let down their guards. One less problem to deal with, she supposed. A thousand more lay in wait, like a horde of beasts with eyes aglow- but they could deal with those once everyone was out of the rain.

"Honestly, you're right to be cautious," she told them. "But we don't have much to go on, so we may as well trust each other until we can find out more. You can call me Anne." She tilted her head to indicate the direction of the lodge, then turned to limp back towards it. "The survivors have all gathered in one of the intact buildings over this way. It's not much, but there should be room for us to take shelter and exchange info with some degree of security." There was no way to make them follow her if they didn't want to, but as she'd just mentioned, it wasn't like they had much else to go on. She moved slowly enough, anyway, and that left them plenty of time to decide.

By the time she'd limped her way back, Lewa and Rayne were already returning with their own fresh face in tow. Anne, for her part, hailed them with a weary wave of her hand. "Good work." It seemed like everyone was in the same place now, and they could finally share info without any interruptions.

No sooner had she walked in the door, however, than she caught the look Alvin was giving her. Though she made no audible reply, her features spoke volumes in turn: tired, sad, filled with that bleak mixture of guilt and helplessness that so often accompanied bearers of bad news. Kendrick was supposed to be the one who told him, but... It was her he looked to, in the end. She would not turn away.

"Sanae. Would you fill in the others?" She seemed to know some of them already, which could turn out to be a vital clue. They could figure things out for themselves right now, though. "I'm going to check on the kids."

A slow limp across the room. Past the injured, and the nearly dead. She reached Alvin's seat and got down on one knee before him, so that their heads were at a level, where she could meet his eyes for a long few seconds before she dropped her gaze.

"I can tell you what happened," she said.

@PKMNB0Y

“Sorry but I have to do better than that. There was no way I wasn’t going to help you help people out after all” Rayne replied, aware that he was joking as much from the lack of any newfound connection as from being able to read him. Or, well, there was a tiny link she realized as she touched her fragile network in-order to take to the air again. It was thin as string, caused by an underlying kindness in the man of metal’s words. That warmed her heart, and so too did his careful lifting up of the unconscious Elaine.

“Thank you both, I wouldn’t have been much use if I’d come to do this alone” she said to both healer and transporter of their rescuee, reflecting again on the irony that a power gained from helping primarily allowed her to do harm.

There was at least one thing she could do, and that was help keep the rain off. Having to admit that she too, was a little lost (“I’m used to navigating caves, not the surface, ours isn’t safe any more”) she had no objection to lending Remilia her hat so she could go have a peak above the canopy. While that was occurring, she pulled out the shield she had ‘borrowed’ from a raven herald and used it to create an improvised rain shield for the baby and at least some of its mother, while getting wet herself.

Seeing as she was already drenched, this hardly mattered to her, which was why she offered to let Remilia either keep using the hat, or if she did get it back, she popped it on Elaine so she could increase the area she was protecting from the rain.

“So, um, lady Remilia, I take it you missed the start of this where we kinda worked out what was going on, ish?” Rayne said to the little lady as they traveled, as much to make conversation as to fill her in “The rest of us arrived in a temple of some kind, where two children were being attacked by the Raven Heralds, the same people who attacked the village we’re going to. One of them said that a goddess spoke to them, one called Lavielle, who summoned us here to save them”

“I’m not sure where here is, but it isn’t my world, that’s for sure. I knew everyone that was still alive in mine, I was Linked to them all, and no one here, and none of you, are from there. So this must be somewhere else” she then explained, heading off what was probably one of the more immediate questions she expected would come up.

That was, unfortunately, all she really had, and so they’d need to wait till they got back to town to see if anyone else had learned anything. Fortunately enough, their trip back was uneventful, and so soon enough they were back at the lodge, where, after reuniting Elaine and her child with a tearful husband, it seemed like there might indeed be more that had been learned, and Rayne for one was all pointy ears with regard to whatever it might be.

"K... Kochiya-san?"

For a few moments, Youmu wasn't entirely certain how to react. After seeing all the pain and destruction that had clearly been wrought here, the last thing she expected was an even slightly familiar face. The half-phantom didn't even know the Moriya Shrine's miko particularly well, but at the very least she'd met her more than once.

That was more then she could say for most of people she'd run into so far. The unfamiliar atmosphere was all somewhat overwhelming for Youmu. She'd never seen this many people with serious injuries, let alone the actual dead bodies she'd seen outside.

The next familiar face that showed up was more confusing then anything.

"Scarlet-san?!"

Youmu couldn't help but exclaim at that point. Of all the people she could have possibly expected to see, that certainly wasn't one of them. The Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion wasn't exactly the sort of person who was commonly seen wandering around in random locations.

"... Er..."

The half-phantom took a deep breath. She had to compose herself and handle this seriously. The only other remotely familiar figure was what appeared to be some kind of oni, a tall, silvery-haired woman wearing extremely unfamiliar clothing. But was she an oni in the first place? Was that a tail?

"Kochiya-san, Anne-san said you could explain what was going on," Youmu began after a few moments of hesitation, "Where are we? What happened to all of these people?"

Something truly terrible had occurred, and this didn't look like anywhere in Gensokyo. She had to know.

Meanwhile, as Lily and the Knight kept watch over the injured, girl that they'd managed to recover from the debris was stirring. As she sat up, her breathing still somewhat heavy, her eyes travelled across her surroundings for a few moments before settling on Saria.

"You... you were the one who carried me back, weren't you?" she asked after a moment's pause, "Thank you, I was out of it so I wasn't sure at first. I'm Raya, my father is-"

She paused for a moment, her eyes drifting downwards.

"W... was, the leader of this town..."

@Raineh Daze@Drifting Pollen@EchoWolff@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious@Izurich@PKMNB0Y

Once the fliers ascended above the canopy to get a lay of the land, the rescue team could start heading in the right direction. Luckily, between the initial duo's copious amount of swerving and backtracking, they hadn't ultimately wandered that far from the village itself, so the return journey was mercifully quick. As much as Lewa cherished his time in nature's beauteous forests, he was happy to leave this one -not to mention the rainfall- behind for now. Maybe they could become better acquainted later, but at the moment he needed to see his duty through. Part of him also hoped, and rather fervently at that, that in the aftermath of the battle, the entity responsible for bringing him and the others here would consider their task fulfilled and see fit to send them back. At the same time though, Lewa couldn't shake a dreadful premonition: that this run of bad luck had only just gotten started.

He and Rayne arrived with the missing villagers without much fanfare. How many poor sufferers had they already rescued from their hamlet's rubble, after all? When a fretful Marcus appeared, though, the unbridled relief and tears of joy he unleashed made everything more than worth it. Lewa just watched, beaming, as the members of the reunited family held one another close. Considering all the death that hung over this place, it was a small and bittersweet victory, but Lewa took pride in it nonetheless. These people deserved the comfort of hope, and to see their faint flickers of hope rewarded.

With that business concluded, the stage was set for the otherworlder's not-so-grand reunion. More or less everyone who'd been spirited away from their homes to that crumbling church were now here, and as the conversation began they could take what little shelter was available. Lewa couldn't get soaked like the others could, what with their permeable outer membranes and abundance of cloth garments, but being inundated in another toa's element didn't exactly thrill him. Breezy treetops, howling cliffs, and the boundless sky were his domain; swimming and getting rained on were better left to Gali. "I wish my toa-sister was here," he murmured. Her wisdom was sorely needed. Thoughtful and empathetic to the point where their brother Onua once asked her if she could read minds, Gali was a moderating voice of reason that could provide clarity even in the most uncertain times. Lewa and the others could really use some clarity right now.

Rayne helped get things started by reiterating the situation, mostly for the benefit of the few new faces who'd appeared since the battle in the village. A number of people from disparate -in some cases, wildly disparate- worlds had all been brought here against their will by forces they didn't know for reasons they didn't fully understand. At least, that was how it seemed. The realization that three of the people here hailed from the same world took Lewa aback. Though, the three did seem to share a common thread. Small, slender, with female voices, and featuring strange, somewhat fanciful clothes and colors compared to the people of this town, who otherwise seemed to be the same species. Maybe everyone from their world was like that? Lewa struggled to see the meaning behind this coincidence. Maybe there was none. It was all quite frustrating.

These creatures were difficult for Lewa to fully read, but it seemed like something bad had happened. Well, didn't that just perfectly encapsulate everything from the moment the otherworlders arrived? He'd tried his best to help, but already the toa felt like he was getting nowhere. No closer to answers, or to the island paradise that needed him so dearly. "I'm hoping for some explanation myself," he chimed in after Youmu, arms crossed. "And also for whatever brought us here to show up, so that we can go back."

As the Scarlet Devil trekked through the forest under the pouring rain alongside the Toa of Air and the Knight Witch, while the two petite individuals were overwhelmingly towered over by Lewa, unfortunately, his hands were busy escorting Elaine and her baby and thus, as much as Remilia wished he could use his impressive bulk to shelter her instead, she knew where their priorities should lie.

Well, at least Rayne provided a much-needed distraction, better to focus her mind on more important matters than this damnable downpour, "Considering Sanae arrived here first even though we hailed from the same land, I'm confident that for one reason or another, I was a late arrival." The lilac-haired vampiress pretty much confirmed the snow-haired halfling's inquiry, "I see... how peculiar." Remilia slowly rubbed her chin, pondering over the Knight Witch's revelation regarding the possible reason why this 'incident' happened in the first place. Raven Heralds... were they those corpses that I found myself in the middle of? It sounds plausible. As for this... 'goddess', Lavielle, she said, I do not recognize the name, so, does this mean it's not Kanako, nor Suwako's doing after all? Which means, my hypothesis that Sanae and the Moriya Shrine being the culprit is unlikely to be accurate.

If indeed there was a foreign deity capable of abducting those protected within the Great Hakurei Barrier, either this Lavielle was even more powerful than Yukari - the de facto God of Gensoyko - or that damned mischievous overgod allowed it, Remilia wasn't sure which possibility was worse than the other. Regardless, one thing could be confirmed as fact, that they were all here now, individuals of all walks of life and origins, pulled into this foreign world from their respective home realms. "So it seems, Lady Rayne, we're all abducted here, and if your story is proven to be true, by this Lavielle deity. To save them? Heh... well, that at least explains her choice of abductees, I suppose."

As for the rest of the trip, while Remilia would normally prefer to experience an interesting event or two, her current condition dictated otherwise, not to mention the helpless civilians with them.
..........
.....
...



Arriving at the village, the trio plus their escorts were led inside the Hunter's Lodge by a curious individual, a tall woman of imposing physique with long maroon brown hair and fierce emerald eyes. Though she definitely looked worse for wear, even from a cursory glance, Remilia could tell that she was a fighter, likely one of the combat-capable individuals called here by the goddess to deliver them from the Raven Heralds. A potential ally in their quest to return to their respective homes? Quite likely, but proper pleasantries could be exchanged later, right now, there's a shrine maiden she ought to... courteously socialize with.

While Lewa handled the return of Elaine and her child to Marcus, Remilia took note of the injured humans - victims of the raid - and how they appeared to be stable for the most part, and alongside them, more of her "kind", as in abductees from other worlds; a tall female oni(?) with long ashen hair and a presence as intimidating as the maroon-haired human, a dark-haired male human with a silently observant gaze wearing stylish apparel, and an albino human child with soft verdant eyes. None of them appeared to be in a critical condition, Sanae's work it seems, well, her and anyone else who may be capable of healing. With that in mind, Remilia decided that there weren’t any on-going emergencies, she could attend to them later, for now, answers.

Turning toward the distinctive combination of long green hair, serpentine and amphibian hair accessories, and miko outfit, Remilia finally located the wayward shrine maiden, but in a stroke of rather pleasant surprise, another as well...

”Well, well, well, who do we have here~?”

Being perfectly honest, while the Scarlet Devil expected another Gensokyan abductee other than Sanae and herself, the Half-Phantom Gardener of the Netherworld Princess was not really high on the list, she'd have preferred someone more personal; Flan, Sakuya, Patchouli, Meiling, and hell, even Marisa, but she figured expecting some kind of pattern would be asking too much from the kidnapper goddess. At least, she had now confirmed with her very own eyes that Sanae was here, and Youmu too, she supposed.

"Hmm~? What is the matter, o' scions of the Moriya Shrine and the White Jade Tower, are you - perhaps - not expecting my presence here?" Seeing familiar faces, with both of them being individuals whom Remilia saw as being many centuries her junior, tempted the Scarlet Devil to revel in her sense of seniority for a bit, "Why yes, tis' I, Remilia of House Scarlet, Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, in the flesh." She curtsied for a moment before her wings flapped once as she shifted into a sitting pose mid-air, as if she was seated on an invisible throne, one clasped hand held against her chin, "I've promised Lady Rayne and Sir Lewa that I'd assist you in caring for the injured so do make this quick, Sanae," The vampiress spoke, her otherwise regal tone carrying signs of frustration and desperation bubbling just underneath the surface, "What do you know about the goddess Lavielle? Why were we - out of countless others - chosen? And last but certainly not least, how do we return home?"

@DracoLunaris @Lugubrious @PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR @Drifting Pollen @Raineh Daze @EchoWolff

Upon hearing that Anne—who she presumed to be the woman who had escorted the kids here whose name she had not yet actually gotten proper—had directed any questions to her, Sanae opened her mouth in an attempt to protest before deciding to simply sigh and deal with the newcomers' questions as best she could. It was hard to refuse a request when the older woman was going to look after the kids, and given how she actually knew the newcomers better than the others (or, well, at all, really), it made sense to have her fill them in.

Didn't make it any less awkward, though.

"Um... So, uh... Where do I begin...?" the green-haired girl mused out loud, bringing one hand to her chin before shrugging her shoulders. "Okay. So. This is definitely another world of some variety. The way those soldiers—Raven Heralds, they were called?—were equipped isn't anything like the military equipment of the Outside World. We're long since past the era of swords and shields, after all, so that'd be my guess as to where we are. As for what happened..."

It took a moment for Sanae to recall the events that led up to her transportation to the church, what with her ind having been focused on helping people, but given how it wasn't actually that long ago, that much seemed straightforward.

"I don't know what everyone else was doing, but I was seeing off the last few visitors to the shrine for the day. Some super strong magical power surged up, some weird barrier kept me stuck in place, and about... Ten seconds later? I was in some sort of weird ruined church. Then everyone else popped up, we saved the two kids over there, came to this place, fought off the baddies, and... Here we are now?"

It was, admittedly, little more than a very haphazard explanation about their recent escapades mixed with some wild conjecture about what had brought them here. If anyone could tell them more about their situation, it'd have to be that goddess that brought them here. Given how the events of the last while had transpired though, Sanae reasoned that Millie had to be some sort of divine conduit if it was through her that they were all dragged here through time and space.

"But, uh... Huh. Lavielle was that goddess' name, you said? Gotta remember that," she continued on, "but, well... Honestly, your guess would be as good as mine as to why we've all been teleported against our will—or, well, I assume that nobody got taken willingly...? Either way, it's not like I know much about why we're here and how to get home. Our best bet would be to wait for the girl who channeled that goddess to wake up and have her do it again so we can have a little chat, but as you can see..."

With a small tilt of her head and gesture of her hand towards the pair of children. Sanae looked at Remilia and shrugged.

"She's been unconscious since we arrived. I'm going to hope it's just exhaustion from letting a god inhabit a body with no training—and yes, I would know how that feels—so hopefully she'll wake up come morning and figure some more things out then."

With a deep breath as she finally finished rambling, Sanae looked at the others waiting in turn before her gaze finally stopped on Lewa.

"Now... That aside..." she said, a curious glint in her eye, "Lewa, right? I wanna hear more about you and where you're from. You're a hundred percent machine, right? No weird mini-person piloting you? Not that that'd be bad or anything, but, like..."

Her enthusiasm was rather evident, but it was likely that if nobody else tried to stop her from rambling on, the young woman would likely rattle off her questions for a... Meaningful amount of time.

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious

---

When Anne finally approached him, Alvin felt as if his heart had turned to lead. There was this impending dread within him—a feeling that, though he knew the answer the lady who had protected them would give, a part of him didn't want to even try and consider thinking about it. But with his father nowhere to be seen after so long and uncle Kendrick back on patrol...

Surely he just had to be outside, helping the other guards make sure that the Heralds didn't come back, right? That even if he was injured, he'd still be doing his best for the town—for them.

But the way that Anne spoke to him only served to amplify that sinking feeling. If it was news that would soothe his heart, there was no way she would have spoken like that. Even he knew that; his dad had spoken the same way whenever something bad happened.

Some part of him didn't want to hear it, but with shaking, balled-up fists clutched at his side the young boy quietly nodded his head.

"Is... Is dad...?"

@Drifting Pollen

Anne knew how it went. She'd gone through at least a dozen variations of this talk before, and had been on the receiving end of her fair share. Psychologists talked about desensitization, about hearts that turned to stone under the weight of too many deaths, but she'd never really felt that way—the pain persisted, every time. It just got harder to cry.

There was no sword skill or negotiating tactic to resolve this situation; all she could do was give Alvin the truth. She spoke softly, so that the others would not overhear. Clearly, so that he would not misunderstand. "Ywain died in the early stages of the attack. Fighting the Raven Heralds, as I understand it." She bowed her head slightly, feeling the need to pay her respects to the man. From the sound of it, he'd protected his home until the last, and it may have been because of his bravery that Alvin and Millie had even been able to escape at all. By extension, every villager in this lodge right now owed their lives to the commander.

Except that wasn't what really mattered, right now. A brother and sister had been left without a father, and no number of lofty accolades would ever fill that hole.

"Kendrick was going to tell you," she said, as she raised her head to once again meet Alvin's eyes. "He'll know more than I do... But please don't be too harsh on him. The loss hit him hard as well." The guard had been worried the boy might hate him, but Anne remembered what he'd said before that. Ywain did his damn best to raise them—and a lot of us under him did our best to follow. If there was anything that could help these kids now, it would be the bonds they shared with the rest of the town, the family that had cared for them in their own way since the very beginning.

@PKMNB0Y

As much as it pained him to acknowledge it, the reality that faced Lewa was one where nobody knew much of anything. They couldn't even hazard a guess; by themselves, the only thing the otherworlders gathered here could do was reiterate the circumstances that brought them here. Everything, it seemed, rested on the little girl who'd somehow managed to channel the power of a mystical entity called Lavielle, referred to as a 'goddess'. To Lewa, the way the others referred to this being made him think of the Great Spirit, Mata Nui. Perhaps if his home had Mata Nui, other lands had great spirits of their own. Whatever power the little one invoked, however, had clearly gone, and it left her in a nonfunctional state. The idea of waiting in agonizing uncertainty until morning took the wind from Lewa's sails, but it wasn't like he had much choice. Better late than never, after all.

Accepting this state of affairs meant that Lewa had some time to kill. More than anything right now, he wanted to get to know this world of organics better. While he'd been forced to quickly graduate past the phase of mouth-agape befuddlement, the fact remained that he lacked even the most cursory understanding of how beings like these operated. That meant a definite possibility for awkward conversation, but that was the lot he'd drawn.

Before he could drum up his first question, however, one of the others offered him one instead. Sanae seemed interested in him and his homeland, practically alight with curiosity, and Lewa saw no reason to deny her. Unfortunately, she did happen to touch on one subject that was a little personal for him: the matter of a miniature creature controlling him.

"Like a krana!?" Lewa's eyes grew wide. "No, no, I am the one in control, and only me. Never again something else!" He shuddered, trying to push the thought from his mind. "Ah, forgive me. Bad thought-time. Er...to answer your question, I think-believe that you're mistaken. A machine is just a 'thing', yes? A cleverly-made metal contraption that can be run-operated. Something like a Boxor, which matoran wield-use for protection. We made have protodermis armor like ussal crabs have shells, but we are all alive, thanks to Mata Nui!" Lewa closed his eyes and breathed in deep, filling his lungs, then exhaled.

One beat later, he launched into more explanation. "That's the name of our Great Spirit, you see. And our island paradise-home is named the same in his honor. It is divided into six unique-different wahi, each home to a matoran element-tribe. Mata Nui has the snowy ice-slopes of Ko-wahi, the maze-tunnels of Onu-wahi, the rocky canyons of Po-wahi, the tropical shore-waters of Ga-wahi, volcanic Ta-wahi, and of course, my own home-land. Le-wahi, a great jungle of matchless beauty. There I worked tirelessly to safe-keep my people from all harm. My four brothers Tahu, Pohatu, Onua, and Kopaka, and my sister Gali, look after the others." He crossed his arms and looked around, clearly expecting everyone -not just Sanae- to be impressed.

---

Joker stood next to the lodge door, glancing at Anne as she re-entered the lodge, the door closing behind her. He let out a soft sigh, so many questions, and fleeting time to work with. Quite the striking resemblance to his everyday school life in a way. His feet guided him toward the collection of people, his tailcoat flowing behind him as he absent-mindedly fixed his crimson gloves. From what he had gathered from their conversation, they were in a sort of different world, which wasn't hard for him to believe. After all, that was pretty much his whole thing as a Phantom Theif. However, these were definitely much different circumstances than what he was used to.

"Another world, that I'm used to. Walking into one accidentally, sure, but I've never seen a Palace like this. You all came from different worlds, as I've heard you say so that rules out the Metaverse... I suppose we might as well introduce myself. You can call me Joker, like the card, at least... if you have those in your worlds. Apologies for the late introduction."

The voice of his Persona spoke in the back of his head, not wanting to be left out of this interaction now that he was given the option to be active.

"Come now Trickster, summon me, lest you forget to introduce your counterpart."

Joker let out another sigh, before bringing his gloved hand to his domino mask.

"Ah- right. Let me also introduce you to my partner, Arsene."

With the name of his Persona invoked, the mask burned away in a wisp of blue flame like flash paper, as the winged figure that was the manifestation of his rebellion materialized behind him, bound by phantasmal chains. Arsene gave a small bow as Joker gave him a look as if to say 'Really?' his other self had a bit of a flair for the eccentric...

“This world isn’t mine either. You have a working sky for one” Rayne confirmed, before also confirming that “and no, I wasn’t asked” before adding “If I was I would have asked the goddess to wait a few seconds before I could replace our own one. I’m… not sure how my world is doing without someone keeping the cycle of life and death going…”

She looked visibly worried for a few moments, biting her lip, eyes turned down, shoulders drawn in, before shaking her head and saying “I guess all we can do is wait, and hope that Lavielle is easier to get in touch with than Gaia is. Or was” forcing herself not to give into her fears. The way the others started talking about their own worlds and places they had in them helped her focus less on hers, at the very least.

Lewa it seemed came from one hosting many different mechanical peoples like himself, ones into which a great spirit had breathed life into, which was pretty familiar, but also not an aspect she wanted to focus on as a result. Instead she focused her mind on trying to imagine a whole world filled with nothing but living machines. Or not machines. Golems? The lack of a specific alternate term was going to mean this kept being confusing for a while, she suspected.

Whatever the case, Rayne thought “that sounds incredible” before thinking for a moment and saying “oh, but, to maybe clear something up, some machines can do things on their own, be alive, sort of. We have machines called golems back in my world, and though they aren't people, they can move and act on their own. Fight, mostly. So that might be where the confusion is coming from. Maybe it would be helpful to know what you call yourself and your siblings? Collectively I mean, like how those matoran you mentioned are, well, matoran, and I’m a halfling and most of the people here are humans… huh, practically everyone else actually” which to her was odd, given how many other people there had been back home, all mingled together.

Where back home. Where. She mentally corrected and insisted to herself.

As for the masked man who introduced himself as Joker, she responded to him by saying “We have cards,” she briefly held up a hand of three translucent blue ones as she said that “but I haven't heard of a joker one before. Nice to meet you all the same” before adding “And, ah, you too Arsene” when he summoned his large spectral companion behind him.

As Youmu listened to Sanae's explanation, her grave expression grew increasingly intense by the moment.

"I... really?"

And yet when she finally spoke, she sounded more frustrated than anything else. If this deity had spoken to her mistress and asked for her assistance, and her mistress asked her to go, she would have come gladly. Perhaps it was difficult to do so at the time, but she had appeared much later than anyone else.

And that wasn't it.

"When she dragged me here, she nearly tore me in half," the half-phantom added, glancing towards her drifting phantom half as she did. She could still feel something was wrong, even if it didn't manifest painfully now.

"But if she was seeking powerful assistance, I guess that explains why she would ever summon Scarlet-san," she added, with another look towards the vampire. While her impression of Remilia Scarlet wasn't particularly favorable overall, especially given her first meeting with that maid of hers, she considered it foolish not to recognize that the child-sized vampire was considerably powerful.

"But now that I'm here, I can't really look away when there's people suffering," she added after a few moments with a sigh. While her duty was to the Princess of the Netherworld, it didn't sit particularly well with Youmu to simply ignore it if people were being hurt. The sight of the bodies laying outside in the ruined part of town was emblazoned on her mind, no matter how she tried not to think about it.

Of course, focusing on any of that was difficult when someone so completely bizarre was standing nearby. The humanoid machine reminded her of something the kappa would make, only it turned out he wasn't really a machine despite looking like one? Not only that, but there was some form of god of these living machines that was responsible for all of it?

It was a lot to take in when coupled with the situation as a whole.

Were these the deities of other lands like Gensokyo? Gensokyo had many gods, though, and she had met some of them. These places appeared to have only one as far as she had heard, but she'd only been here for a short time---

Ah, it was way too confusing! And she was already so frustrated at it all!

@PKMNB0Y@Izurich@Lugubrious

As soon as the Moriya Miko began her explanation, Remilia was all ears, listening to every single word spoken by the green-haired girl, making sure to not miss even a single syllable. "Hmmm..." The vampiress thoughtfully rubbed her chin, finding Sanae's story to align with what Rayne and Lewa had told her over the course of their short journey here; that this world's local goddess - Lavielle - was most likely the culprit, though her intention was noble, protecting her people from those who'd do them harm, her methods were... questionable at best. "I'm unable to speak for others, but correct, I was taken here against my will. One moment, I was enjoying a friendly competition with that errant 'Ordinary Magician', and the next moment, I found myself here; with nothing on my person but the clothes I was already wearing..."

Remilia's words trailed off as if she had more to say, but for the moment, she paused, letting her crimson gaze turn at the Half-Phantom Gardener of the White Jade Tower first, "Yes, about that, while I'm flattered that you mentioned me in reference to powerful individuals, it appears that...." The shortest of the three Gensokyans sighed, quite harshly, "Whatever happened to you, Youmu, happened to me as well, and dare I say, even worse? Instead of almost being torn in half, the Scarlet Devil you now see before you is but a shell of her former self. I had to exert some effort just to slay a wolf who wanted to devour me... a wolf." Remilia believed that one example already served to illustrate just how far she had fallen. "This Lavielle, she ought to work on proper summon rituals first than anything else.."

However, much like Youmu, she agreed with the half-phantom's sentiments. What's done is done, now what she must do is focus on the future. Find a way to help these people and return home. Speaking of the former... "I suppose until that Human child wakes up, we have nothing further to discuss, and besides, I have a promise to keep." While Sanae was being all shiny-eyed at the Toa of Air and Youmu was figuratively tearing her hair out, Remilia proceeded to patrol the hunter's lodge, going from victim to victim, staunching bleedings and mending wounds as she did. I've never thought of myself as a healer, but there's a first time for everything, I suppose.

As she went about her task, Remilia could spare some attention to listen to what some of her fellow summonees had to say. Lewa had finally gotten the chance to elaborate his nature and the world he called home. As I expected, Sir Lewa is some sort of Guardian Spirit, or in his case, the Toa of Air, guardian of great jungle Le-wahi. Considering everything, it was no wonder Lavielle picked him, in fact, people like Lewa was just the perfect kind of individuals to choose. However, is it wise to rip him off from his homeland? What of the people he's supposed to protect? Remilia supposed the answer would be similar as to why she herself was ripped away from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Lavielle, you… sigh.

Noticing Lewa's not-so-subtle display of good-natured bragging, Remilia chuckled in mirth, then decided to humor him, "Fascinating, you truly came from a wondrous world, Sir Lewa." She smirked, "I can only hope that we can be returned to our respective homes sooner than later; your siblings, your matoran, and Mata Nui must be missing you greatly."

Up next, the quiet and unassuming Human lad finally decided to speak up, introducing himself as 'Joker', someone who seemed to be no stranger to trans-universe shenanigans, a world hopper in other words, and he's accompanied by his large-and-in-charge spectral companion, whom he called 'Arsene'. "Well, at least one of us is used to this then, Sir Joker, I say that is a good development," Remilia chuckled once, "And I see that you are not alone, a pleasure, Sir Arsene." Remilia didn't know anything about Joker and Arsene beyond what she just heard, but from what she could see, they appeared to be people of significant power. I sincerely hope all that grandiose display isn't just some parlor tricks... for all of our sakes.

All the while, Remilia continued checking - and healing - every villager within her reach with her blood magic, utterly crippled it might be, it's better than nothing.

@PKMNB0Y @VItaVitaAR @Lugubrious @EchoWolff

Lewa's rather adverse initial reaction to her comment about being controlled caused Sanae to instinctively raise her hands in the air and take a step back from the green machine-not-machine-person-thing. The fact that she had apparently touched on something that was a bit of a sore spot for him was not lost upon her, of course, but it luckily didn't take long for him to recover and explain himself and his origins in turn.

"Oooh... I see, I see," she said, nodding her head at his explanations. "A mechanical hero protecting the jungles of his homeland... I think there's something inherently poetic about that, in a weird way. Regardless, that has to be a large responsibility to bear; the best I ever do is go around solving incidents when not tending to the shrine I live at, and even then that stuff usually doesn't leave who knows how many lives hanging in the balance..."

With that said, though, Sanae quieted down and listened to the others introduce themselves and their situations in turn. Rayne's situation seemed a bit more concerning compared to the rest of them—life and death not functioning sounded like an incident waiting to happen—but it didn't seem like any of them could really get back to what they were doing until this whole summoning mess was resolved regardless. Joker's introduction, however, piqued a bit more of the young woman's interest—not because of how foreign it was, but instead how familiar the last quip he had given felt to her.

"Joker and Arsene... Cards? Like playing cards? And... Arsene... Lupin? Like that old manga?" she asked in turn, cocking her head to the side in curiosity. "Or am I barking up the wrong tree here?"

Though she wanted to poke more into everyone's histories and circumstances, Youmu's and Remilia's accounts of their arrival quickly pulled her back to incident resolution mode. The fact that they had both been brought over after the fact, and well after the rest of them had been summoned to the church here (and fundamentally weakened to boot) was a red flag in her head, and inevitably something to look into sooner rather than later.

"That doesn't sound particularly pleasant," Sanae remarked, grimacing at her acquaintainces' accounts of their arrival before crossing her arms. "Hopefully it isn't anything too bad, but I've got a bad feeling about this if that's how you two arrived here..."

With the situation as it was, though, it seemed that the best the group could do now was spend the rest of the night under a proper roof and resting—and maybe even talking further about what their plan was for the near future beyond waiting for their questions to be answered by the still-absent divinity that had brought them all here.

---

Though he seemed to have been expecting the answer that Anne had given him, Alvin seemed no less torn by what she had said. His father was dead, and had died giving his life for theirs...

"..."

Though he had seemed mature for his age, the young boy had really only done so at the behest of his father—the very same who had the wits to send him and Millie off into the wilds, knowing full well that whatever had come for them would have left them dead (or worse). But though the logical part of his brain had begun to grasp it, his heart refused the evidence outright. He and his sister had been saved from the Heralds, yes, but they had still taken his father all the same. Even so, a miracle had saved him and his sister; who was to say that something couldn't have happened to save his father after the fact?

Despite everything, Alvin—whose fists had clenched tightly into fists—wordlessly broke past Anne and ran outside the lodge and into the streets. Maybe, just maybe, his father would be there, alive and waiting for their return like he had promised.

---

---

With everything that had happened, it wasn't too surprising that Sanae had eventually burned through the last of her energy and passed out on the floor at some point during the night. It was only the feeling of hunger that finally roused her from her slumber—well, that and an uncomfortable rest on the cold wooded floor in her shrine maiden outfit.

Really, it was a miracle that she had fallen asleep to begin with.

Sanae let out a groan of discomfort as she blearily opened her eyes and stretched her arms upwards, and a cursory glance around left the young woman cognizant that the events of the last day had not been a delusion conjured up by her mind. The injured were still laying around, and the people who had awoken were slowly getting back to work trying to make sure that nobody had passed during the night. Remilia's assistance seemed to help a lot more than her own small miracles had, given how much more tangible they seemed to be, but physical repairs could only do so much to keep someone alive and well.

Pushing herself off the ground and stretching her limbs in an attempt to rid herself of the soreness and discomfort of it all, the young woman glanced around before frowning.

"...Hm. Anyone else up?" she asked as she brushed some of the debris off of her dress and glanced around. "Need to figure out where we can get some food to start. I was going to go check out that church again if Millie wasn't awake, but by the looks of things she's still out like a light."

At the same time, though, a few of the hunters off to the side seemed to be discussing matters in hushed tones, close enough to the entrance of the building so as to not alert the injured further in.

"You sure you saw something in the forest? Rain should've washed everything down last night."

"Blood, sure, but we've got corpses all over and no chance to clean up. You'd be crazy to think there aren't any opportunistic monsters who would love a free meal..."

@VitaVitaAR@Izurich@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious@Raineh Daze@Drifting Pollen

The Scarlet Healer continued undertaking her self-imposed duty to mend the physical maladies of the infirm, whoever they might be, she might even try to heal Anne's wounds, only to find out that for one reason or another, the brunette was quite resistant to her benevolent blood magic, their effects were muted, especially when compared to the others. It was as if a part of Anne's body didn't react at all to Remilia's haemomantic ministrations, how curious, yet not unexpected considering she was a fellow trans-universal adoptee. Whether Anne would deign an explanation or not, Remilia wouldn't push her to explain every single detail of her condition, not when she had others who also needed her help.

While continuing the small talk for some form of social entertainment on the side, the Blood Mistress would eventually finish with her task. It was certainly quite the labor, what's with her crippled condition. Mere hours ago, she could've achieved this with one quick burst of a healing mist, ah truly, how far the mighty had fallen. Urgh... how long has it been since I feel the urge to sleep instead of simply wanting to? Yet the fact remained that her body was demanding, screaming at her to let herself get some rest. A well-deserved one if I do say so myself...

Thus, with barely any energy left in her, Remilia picked herself a corner, sat down with her wings folded behind her, then hugged her knees with her face tucked on top of said knees as she began drifting off into a state of coma-like slumber called 'torpor', appearing more like a stiff corpse than a sleeping individual, one of the distinctive traits of her kin.
..........
.....
...


Morning didn't come easy for Remilia, there was no affectionate little sister cuddling her arm, no warm greeting or finely-cooked breakfast by her head maid, and no pillows and cushions appropriate for her stature, hell, she didn't even have a bed, the very bare minimum of a decent resting place. "Uuurgh..." Thus, the first "words" - noise more aptly - that left her slightly ajar lips were a long, exhausted groan, like an elderly woman who had not many years left to give. Even before being fully cognizant, Remilia knew that her afflictions would remain for the foreseeable future. "..." Regardless, there was little point in moping about, others with less willpower would've given into abject despair after so suddenly losing almost everything they had, but not her, not Remilia Scarlet.

"Hmph..." Pulling herself together through sheer spite against being seen as weak, Remilia unfolded her wings as she floated up to a standing position. It was at this moment that the verdant-haired Moriya Miko too awakened from her slumber, "I am." The lilac-haired vampiress answered curtly, a frown growing on her visage as she glanced over to the still unconscious form of Millie, "So it seems." To a discerning person, they'd be able to perceive vexation bubbling just underneath the surface, but that was all, the Scarlet Devil was anything but impulsive.

Since there was no use in trying to force the child to awaken, Remilia put the matter at the back of her mind... for now, while in the meantime, her pointy ears twitched as she overhead the hunters' conversation, crippled she might be, her senses were still sharper than the common man, "First, the Raven Heralds and now, this... beast, creature, whatever," The vampiress exhaled heavily, "I suppose... I'll graciously lend my services once more..." Though there was a subtle spark of eagerness in her blood-red eyes as she turned her gaze at her fellow abductees, Gensokyan or not, "What say you, ladies and gentlemen?"

@PKMNB0Y @VItaVitaAR @DracoLunaris @Lugubrious @Raineh Daze @Drifting Pollen

Rayne awoke stiff, having fallen asleep in her armor with her hat tipped over her eyes. In her defense she had had a very, very, very long day, and unfortunately it had not been some kind of dream. The morning sun shining in through the windows of the hunters lodge alone would have made that clear.

She was tempted to just lower the brim of her hat to block it, but Sanae‘s words prompted the witch knight to pick herself up to face the day.

“I’m up now” she said as she rose into the air, before doing some shoulder stretches and high knees to limber up a bit. Only after that did she join the conversation, sighing that “of course this place also has monsters” in response to the information that there were such things on the prowl, before easily agreeing that “yeah, I’ll help” with regards to dealing with that situation, the thought of saying no not even crossing her mind.

What she did have a little thought about, however, was to actually ask a question that had been lost in all the ‘excitement’ of the previous day, which was “what is this place called anyway? This village, the region it's in, things like that” directing said question specifically at the hunters who they were offering to help with dealing with the local monster problem.

---

Joker looked over to Sanae, he hadn't really expected to hear the word 'manga' said by anyone here, but then again her outfit seemed similar to a shrine maiden... had she come from Japan too, or at least a similar version of it? The fact that she knew something was enough for him.

"You wouldnt be incorrect, but... I'm pretty sure my little group is famous enough to have a manga made..." He gave a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ryuji would love that though..." He muttered softly, before looking up at Arsene. "You done showing off now?"

---

Joker woke at the sound of others stirring, his eyes slowly opening before taking a cursory glance around the room. His body felt a bit stiff, but he definitely felt more rested than the previous day, dispite the 'jet-lag' from being outside his usual time zone. This was the first time he had ever actually slept in his Phantom Theif attire, and it was more comfortable than he thought it would be.

"I'm conscious..."