As an imminent fight turned from a possibility to an inevitability, Lewa stood by, uncomfortable and confused. Though by now he'd been stuck in this bizarre world for a few days, he still found himself having a tough time wrapping his head around the notion of people fighting one another. Of course the matoran of his world disagreed with one another, and even his toa brethren didn't always see eye to eye, but their conflicts never devolved into combat with one another. At the end of the day, his people always found unity in the philosophy of 'us against the world', and it went without saying that infighting worsened the situation for everyone. But as he'd learned with the Raven Heralds, and even right now with both his teammates and these mercenaries, different 'factions' were more than happy to fight with and even destroy one another, all for seemingly petty reasons. What good could come of this...?

Having another bystander around did not lift his mood much. While he could appreciate the fact that Anne wanted to look on the bright side, Lewa didn't know what he could really do to intercede if things did escalate out of control. Despite their small size, most of these organics outclassed him completely in terms of power. Several had shown off a lethal mastery of bladed weapons that made him look slow and clumsy in comparison, and the one called Sanae wielded stronger wind powers as just one of her myriad abilities. He had a sneaking suspicion these mercenaries were about to learn, much like he had, that appearances could be deceiving. Hopefully the organics wouldn't thrash them too badly, but by looking down on them the mercenaries had given them something to prove. And that had Lewa worried. With that in mind, he couldn't very well wander off, and joined Anne to watch the proceedings.

When the fighting began, things went about as he suspected, at least for the most part. Mokou made a mockery of her opponent, humiliating him with a slow burn defeat while demonstrating that she couldn't be so much as touched. In terms of showboating, though, Fran did her one better, inviting her bearded adversary to learn for himself just how futile his hard-earned strength and skill was before demolishing him. Lewa watched her strut off with a smile on her face. How could anyone take pleasure in something like that? Not even a friendly competition, but a one-sided beatdown? Joker needed to put a little more effort, clashing blades with his opponent repeatedly, but if he got so much as scratched Lewa missed it. After a couple hits and a single spell, which looked uncomfortably like darkness to one who followed the light, the lady rogue got defeated, too. As with the dwarf, she got punished for her pride with the destruction of her weapon. Lewa knew that if he lost his axe, just like that, he'd probably be ruined. His 'teammates' sure weren't here to make friends.

In contrast, Youmu's duel was rather unceremonious. Maybe noticing what had happened to his allies, his foe had given it everything he had in a desperate effort to not be defeated so pitifully, but he too failed to land a single hit, then went down in two smacks. What followed, though, really took the cake. For a few moments, the fight between Sanae and the mercenary mage looked almost fair as they traded flashy spells. Her opponent's efforts culminated in an impressive array of pursuing thunderbolts, and it astonished Lewa to see such an elusive and destructive element wielded so effortlessly. For a moment, it even looked like the mercenary's magic actually scored a hit! While Lewa knew he should probably be cheering for the otherworlders, he was secretly rooting for the underdog, happy that one person at least would be able to preserve some dignity.

When the smoke cleared, however, Lewa quickly realized how wrong he was. If the sight of floating boulders baffled him, the sight of yet another small organic that Sanae somehow knew baffled him even more. The reunion took a dark turn, however, as the new arrival turned her attention on the mage with lethal intent. As she called upon a maelstrom of diabolical magic, giving rise to horrific serpents, Lewa -usually the first to leap into danger for the sake of another- found himself paralyzed by a mixture of fear and indecision. Why was this interloper trying to kill that poor mage? Could he even reach her in time? If he tried, would he be destroyed alongside her? Luckily, his fellow bystander was able to act more decisively, not to mention speedily, fast enough to rend the earth beneath her feet in fact. While Anne moved to save Suwako's target, Sanae tried to stop the assailant herself. Luckily, the priestess managed to defuse the situation, and with some words of admonishment the newcomer vanished again. Her disappearance offered just one more life through Lewa's heart--if she'd somehow gone back where she came from, why couldn't he be sent away like that!?

Without the words to describe how he felt, Lewa just shook his head, mouth ajar.

Rayne wasn’t exactly someone of a martial persuasion like the other two separators, but you didn’t really need to know your flourishes and fancy footwork to see how outclassed the mercenaries were when compared to the outer worlders. Given that some of them had seen off a small army only a few days ago, this wasn't exactly surprising, but it was one thing to know that had happened while you were trying to avoid killing a single teen, and another to watch them demonstrate exactly how they’d done it.

Those that hadn’t been a part of that were hardly slouches either. It certainly seemed like their kidnapper had chosen the right group when it came to power, if maybe not when it came to attitude regarding that power.

“Yeah, that’s a bit much isn’t it? Just because they are that strong there’s no need to lord it over people, surely?” Rayne agreed with Anne’s bullying assessment. Some of the mercenaries might have been their own kind of arrogant before that pride got swept out from under them, but that was hardly a reason to repay that attitude in kind in her opinion.

Still, any worry that things might get out of hand with the duels proved unnecessary right up until the last, and even then it was seemingly not even the partaker of the duel’s fault, and instead that of a mysteriously appearing individual in a brown hat with eyes on top.

Rayne herself was somewhere in between the two other spectators when it came to reactions to the women’s appearance and unexpected attack: She was briefly stunned by the turn of events just long enough that when she did start blink dashing forwards to intervene, she only got 1 metaphorical step forwards before Anne had finished her own intervention.

She let out a little relieved breath and then called over “Nice save!” to the heroine, before approaching the ladies who knew what had just happened and asking to be filled in via a little flurry of questions consisting of “So what just happened there? Was that someone from your home? How’d she get here?”

Once the goddess had said her piece, Sanae took a deep breath and turned around, only to see that both Rayne and Anne had chosen to intervene. The mage's barely-trembling hands as she gripped at her staff caught the young woman's gaze for but a moment, and ultimately the suggestion of resolving this match as a draw was enough to simply call the matter here. While the other non-mercenary duelists seemed rather unfazed by the spectacle—half of them in part probably due to being used to such spectacles as a daily occurrence—the rest...

Well, to say that they were on guard after Suwako's little show of pressure might have been a bit of an understatement.

"...Ah, this is going to be a problem, isn't it...?" the shrine maiden asked under her breath as Suwako, who was still able to maintain her corporeal form, was promptly accosted by Remilia.

"Eh? Oh, Miss Scarlet, you're here too?" the blonde girl responded, the terrifying presence she had been presenting disappearing into her usual nonchalance. "So it's you, the half-ghost gardener, and, uh..."

The mention of Mokou's name took the goddess a few seconds to process before she opted to simply fly a bit higher into the air for a brief moment to look for any slightly more familiar faces. Of course, as someone who didn't really handle all the front-facing tasks that Kanako did, recognizing the Hourai immortal took a bit longer than it should have.

Luckily, the way that she looked was distinct enough to have made an impression when they had gone with Sanae to Eientei during that Lunar invasion incident a while back.

"Oh, that lady! Right, I'll go tell Kanako to notify everyone that you're safe... Which probably means getting the Hakurei shrine involved, huh? I don't think anyone but Yukari can get to Yuyuko anyways, and if there's anywhere I'd find her..."

The goddess continued to ramble for a little bit before the brief miracle began to finally give way. With a sigh, Suwako floated back to the ground and placed her hand on Sanae's shoulder before it faded completely. A small glow briefly surrounded Sanae's body, and Suwako made sure to slip in one last set of words before leaving.

"I've added a bit more onto your blessing, so your frogs should be a bit more suited to handling the type of battles you're probably going to see here. If that was a duel, I've got to do my part to make sure your danmaku's strong enough to protect you, right? Anyways, like I said: make sure to call us when you've got enough faith!"

And with that, the frog-hatted goddess had disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of her presence beyond the torn-up earth and the memories of what had just transpired in front of them.

There was a lot that Sanae had to say now, especially given how she basically hadn't been provided a chance to get a word in edgewise, but there was one thing that took priority right now, even above Rayne's hasty attempts at questioning her.

"I'm very sorry for the trouble I've caused!"

With a deep bow towards the mage who Suwako had scared into submission, Sanae clutched her gohei in front of her with her eyes squeezed shut. There was no reply, and the worry that the mage was taking the rapid escalation of what should have been a fun duel as an attempt on her life was quickly beginning to take root in the shrine maiden's head.

Luckily for her, though, it seemed that the mage wasn't anywhere near as spiteful as some of the more egotistic mercenaries looked to be. After feeling a pat on the shoulder, Sanae looked up for a moment from her bow to see that the mage—who had still not spoken a word—had chosen to simply nod her head in acceptance.

With a sigh of relief, Sanae stood back up and glanced towards Anne before nodding her head.

"...Yeah, my match is probably the only one that's invalid now, huh?" she sighed before glancing at the other battlefields. It had been clear that the other mercenaries had been thoroughly outmatched by their opponents, which made their display of power all the more evident... "Ah, that's frustrating, but I don't think there's going to be any chance of a redo after that one. Uh... Rayne, I'll answer your questions once everyone's gathered up. I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who wants to ask."

But even if they were technically at four wins and a tie, being the only one to not have a clear victory under her belt did bother the young woman a bit.

Just a bit.

With all five of the matches settled now and Remilia's blood magic healing the wounds of the injured (but not, notably enough, their bruised egos), the groups soon reconvened back near the gate where the spectators were watching. It was hard to describe the atmosphere of the crowd, though; a mix of fear, awe, and frustration could be felt from both the mercenaries and townsfolk alike, and it was difficult to gauge if this had, in fact, been a terrible idea to begin with.

"What the heck was that, little miss?!" the mercenary who had gone along with her provocations to begin with finally asked with a half-smile on his face that seemed to run contrary to the mood of the crowd. "You and your friends are really something else!"

"...Eh? What do you...?"

Sanae's response of complete confusion did nothing to stop the mercenary from continuing to speak, regardless of the sentiments of those around him.

"Well, I'm the leader of these guys, sure, but leading doesn't just mean that I'm pointing them at problem and telling them to kill. Sometimes, people get a bit too full of themselves, so they need a little taste of reality to put them in their place. Honestly, I thought that the ones who might have needed that were your group, but it's pretty clear that my folks were the ones who need a bit of modesty!"

The middle-aged man let out another laugh as the embarrassed losers were walked (or dragged) back to the rest of the group.

"...Ah, shoot, I forgot to introduce myself before all this started, huh? My name's Syldon Hest. As for your offer... I think we might be able to work something out. Nothing formal, of course, but I'm pretty sure the client would be safer with you around than not... Though honestly, I don't think we could stop you at this point even if we tried. Gimme a bit to go drill some things into these idiots', though, since it sure seems like they need one."

With Syldon dragging his own people away after coming in like a storm, Sanae took a deep breath and turned to the group that had since reconvened nearby. While it seemed that he had his own things to explain, she wasn't in any better of a position.

"Erm... Right. Where to begin... So, um, like I mentioned before back when we first met, I'm more or less a shrine maiden," the green-haired girl began, "but to be more specific, I'm a shrine maiden at a shrine for two specific gods—Yasaka Kanako-sama and Moriya Suwako-sama. One of the things I learned as a shrine maiden is how to take in the power of a god and... Uh... I guess 'channel' their power? In my case, though, that means I can use their powers or summon them for a little bit, but only if they accept. That also means making that connection to begin with, though, and—I'm going to be completely honest here—I didn't think that I'd get more than a little barrier during that fight if at all. Suwako-sama showing up and summoning the mishaguji was, uh... I didn't think she'd get that mad after showing up..."

Hopefully that would make it clear the whole incident had been a massive set of coincidences that incidentally chained into one another and not anything intended to leave lasting harm, but at this point, Sanae simply left the judgement regarding her explanation to her peers.

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

"Not willingly, but yes, I am." Remilia made a small shrug, then observed as Suwako seemed unable to recall who Mokou was, that or the two never met in the first place; Mokou wasn't exactly sociable, nor famous after all, but it was quickly fixed with a simple visual confirmation, "Marvelous, yes, furthermore, please tell everyone to correspond with the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I suspect Patchouli and the others are trying to reverse the abduction spell as we speak. It'll be wiser to coordinate our efforts together than otherwise." Now everything that needed to be said had been said, it was time for action.

Heh, in hindsight, this is a most favorable outcome. What's one botched duel compared to establishing a contact home? Ah, I only wish the others could say the same... Being torn from their homeworld and everyone they knew, it must be tough.

As Suwako went ahead to bless Sanae and got a few last parting words, Remilia finished up healing the wounded mercenaries, at least physically, alas, she couldn't do anything about their bruised egos, ailments of the psyche are more Lady Satori's expertise. That done, the vampiress expected the caravan to make good on their end of the deal and waive the fee of travelling with them, but as it turned out, the guard captain was more than honored to have them in the group, mmm... understandable.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sir Syldon Hest," The lilac-haired youkai performed her usual curtsy, Gensokyo or no, noblesse oblige must be maintained, "Why, please do not be too harsh on them, they did their utmost best." She giggled while slightly covering her lips with her right hand as the squad leader left to lecture his soldiers.

Naturally, she already knew most of the things Sanae was explaining to the group, but she listened nonetheless, just in case she missed a thing or two, any information that could facilitate interworld communication was crucial. "Then, I suppose pending further developments, your patron goddesses will be our only method of communicating with Gensokyo." Remilia concurred, performing a small nod, "Then please refrain from using your faith powers except for summoning them, unless it's absolutely necessary, leave the healing to me."

So, it seemed that everyone had won their duels... well, effectively won their duel? The shrine maiden's had obviously gone unexpectedly sideways with accidentally summoning one of her patron goddesses in from Gensokyo and into what seemed like a fight to the death, which was unexpected. On the plus side, as the little vampire had realised, this meant that they'd be able to get some sort of communication back?

Not that she really needed any, it wasn't like Kaguya would be terribly bothered if she stopped coming around to fight for however long it took to get back. Keine might worry a little? Well, the news would spread to the human village easily enough.

With the girl introducing herself to the captain, Mokou finally took note of her name. That and the goddesses'... well, it wasn't exactly the same, but that was probably because they'd changed how their names were written a little down the centuries. And kami tended to have far too many names anyway...

"The Moriya Shrine is in Gensokyo now? How did that happen? The biggest shrine in Shinano doesn't seem like something that could just come from the outside world," she asked. Well, it had been the main one in her time? It might have started falling out of favour even before she wound up in Gensokyo, it was a little hard to tell.

... it didn't come with Lake Suwa, right? That would raise even more questions.

“Well, I’m glad that’s resolved at least” Rayne said once the guard captain gave tacit agreement for them to come along with the caravan. With what had just happened, it seemed like very much a secondary compared to what had just happened regarding the appearance and disappearance of someone from Sanae (and co)’s world.

The witch knight had been patient, but she very much leaned in with great interest as the explanation to what had happened was given, only to tilt back in the air and give an exasperated groan once it had been delivered.

“So what’s needed for a connection back home is a link to a goddess. A thing I had up until about 5 seconds before being pulled here by another one who has just the worst timing” she said as she righted herself, explaining her frustration before it could be taken the wrong way, before sighing, and conceding that “Well, she wasn’t exactly the interventionist type anyway” unlike the one that had brought them here. Plus, thinking about it a bit more, if she didn’t have her Link to the people of her world any more, which was a thing she was optimistically assuming was a world hoping thing and not a ‘they were all dead due to there being no goddess of life and death any more’ thing, would she have still had one to Gaia?

“At least it means we have someone else working on this and, I suppose, that we now know this world hopping power isn’t something exclusive to the goddess who brought us here. So… options! Options are good, right?” she suggested, mostly trying to bring some optimism back to herself rather than dwelling on the unknown fate of everyone back home.

Goddesses. Shrines. Frogs. Summonings. At this point Anne decided it was best to just go along with things, and not ask too many questions until this whole matter was over and done with. I should focus on the essentials. What do I need to be able to protect everyone? What potential problems should I be looking out for?

"Options, yes. If the process that brought us here can be reproduced without Lavielle, then figuring out how should be enough to solve our major problems." What even qualified someone as a goddess, though? The only person from the Cosmic Century who might fit the bill would be Mother Knight, and Anne was skeptical that she'd be willing to help even if she could. "We also have to keep in mind the surrounding circumstances, though. If Sanae was able to summon someone here on her own, isn't that evidence of Lavielle's warnings being true?"

The weakening of barriers between worlds. A great danger soon to arise in the capital. In Anne's mind, the likelihood of those two phenomena being linked was extremely high.

But where do the Heralds come into all this...?

"We need to head to the capital soon." She looked to Sanae, who'd supposedly just been bolstered by her frog-goddess. "If most of us are going to leave, then we should do what we can to keep the village safe in the meantime. Can you set up barriers, something like back at the church, but more long-lasting?" It probably wouldn't be enough to fend off another full assault, even with Lily and Saria around, but in the worst-case scenario any extra layers of protection could buy the townspeople critical minutes to escape.

@PKMNB0Y

@PKMNB0Y





The Servant tilted her head as Sanae finished her explanation. Was the priestess concerned that the act of summoning such powerful supernatural deities would come off as strange? Because honestly, Fran wasn't surprised. In her world, this happened all the time in the Moon Lit World, especially Grail Wars. All manner of Servants were summoned in such events, from authors and serial killers to dragonslayers and, yes, even gods. However, Sanae being able to summon HER goddess from HER world gave credence to a growing issue:

The barrier between worlds WAS weakening and Lavielle wasn't the only one pulling people here.

Fran grumbled in unease. Even more questions. When they get to the capital, she really hopes they can get their answers soon.

As bad as things looked for Lewa's fellow otherworlders from an outside perspective, the mercenary leader seemed to take things in stride. Apparently he subscribed to the notion that anyone whose pride outstripped their ability could stand to be taken down a few pegs, be that the Gensokyoites or his own crew. And with how definitively the otherworlders had humbled his subordinates, they'd more than proven themselves, and it fell to him to squash the smoldering resentment of the defeated and make sure they learned their lesson. He even went as far as to approve the request to travel together, in the process admitting that nobody on his side could reasonably have much say in the matter. Realistically speaking Lewa's side couldn't have asked for a better outcome, but the whole resolution did leave the toa a little incredulous. Though he did have only a few days' experience with 'humans' under his belt, were people typically that gracious to admit defeat, or obliging to the victors? For his part, he couldn't tell of Remilia meant to be genuinely encouraging or insultingly smug about the mercenaries' ability. Then again, this Syldon Hest could simply be trying to salvage the situation as best he could, giving up on any pretense of dignity as he attempted to appease the monstrously powerful fighters who'd effortlessly thrashed his crew. So far, it looked lost most of the other otherworlders were so mighty that this world seemed to bend around them. No wonder nobody else felt like a fish out of water like Lewa did--they possessed confidence borne of terrifying strength.

Regardless, with the 'sparring' concluded, Lewa couldn't very well wander away again now. He joined the others, his manner more guarded and wary. Forget soldiers, centipedes, and strangers; these people might be the greatest risk to his chances of getting home again if he ran afoul of them in his ignorance of human behavior. This went double for Sanae, who'd revealed that she possessed unseen guardians ready to appear from nowhere and, oblivious of the context, kill on her behalf if she couldn't stop them in time. Her explanation didn't ease his concerns any, as most of the lingo went right over his head. Few things frustrated him more than the fact that he seldom understood what anyone else said, and he found it difficult to maintain his typically carefree, friendly demeanor like this. The fact that the others could contact their home world certainly didn't lift his mood. Rayne tried to look on the bright side when it came to world-spanning connections, but her words didn't offer Lewa much consolation. Did anything from his home fit the bill? Mata Nui might be the source and sustainer of his world, but for all the veneration offered him, the Great Spirit never stirred from his slumber. Lewa was alone and in the dark.

As Anne brought up village defense with Sanae, the toa of air took a deep breath. The situation might be dire, but despair would only make things worse. As long as his heartlight still shone, he could keep moving, searching, and eventually return home. There had to be a way, and if anyone could find it, it would be this unbeatable band. If the Gensokyoites planned to run roughshod over this land until they discovered a method, he just needed to follow them, and their much greater power meant less risk for him if he let them take the lead. For once, Lewa reasoned, he could hang back and be smart about this rather than rushing blindly forward like usual. As long as he stayed on their good side, the others were his best shot at returning home. Until then he'd need to just...not worry...about what might be happening in his absence.

It's fine, he told himself. The Le-matoran have Turaga Matau to lead them, a far wiser and more capable hero than I. They can take shelter, or if worst comes to worst, consolidate their strength in Ko-koro or Ta-koro. After another deep breath, he stepped forward with a smile. "Very cool-strong, everyone. I do not know what a capital is, but if it has puzzle-answers, I am eager to make the journey."

While she had expected questions more directed towards her ability to summon deities, Sanae found herself being questioned about the presence of the Moriya Shrine in Gensokyo period—and by a resident of the place, no less! Given all the things in the last few years related to them (and her own efforts in the Human Village side), the young woman rather baffled by having to answer the question before doing so regardless.

"How? Uh... I don't think I could tell you how, but it's on the top of Youkai Mountain now, lake and all. Heavens know how much faith Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama had to use for that, but what's done is done, right?" she responded, only for Remilia's assertion to not use her abilities for anything but breaking so that they still had a line home. "As for that... Well, there's always the possibility of gathering some up here. I can't guarantee I won't use that stuff in an emergency, though, but I'll do what I can to keep from losing too much in fights."

Rayne's own attempt at optimism soon reminded the young woman, though, that theirs was now the only group who had a method of reaching home, no matter how limited. To that, all the young woman could provide was a nervous smile. She had no knowledge of other worlds outside of what media she had consumed while on the Outside World, and her own limited abilities meant that offering her own help outside of what she was already doing for the group wouldn't have amounted to much at the end of the day.

With her explanation for what had transpired now left to the others to interpret, Sanae's focus quickly shifted away from that to handling whatever else it was they needed to do, if only because of Anne's prompting her to do so. To be quite frank, the thought of setting up a defensive barrier had not crossed the young woman's mind; it wasn't her realm of expertise, after all, and the most she had done outside of combat in the past was spiritual barriers.

...That didn't mean that she couldn't do that now, though.

"Um... I can do spiritual barriers for sure, but nothing selective," she replied after producing a few ofuda from her sleeve. "A proper defensive barrier might interfere with the townsfolks' daily lives, so warding off the supernatural's the best I can do. The others who chose to stay behind should be enough to handle anything physical, though. Hopefully."

Discussions regarding any last-second preparations for the protection of Aventon and it's residents otherwise, however, was rather brief; none of the others seemed capable of leaving any lingering protection, which meant that once she was done and Mr. Hest had finished talking the merchants into letting them along, they would all be capital-bound.

Not that they couldn't follow from a distance anyways, but with half the group traveling on foot and the other half capable of just flying along, there were bound to be some logistical issues if they chose to split up.

"If that's how things are, then, I'll be right back!" the green-haired girl called out as she floated into the air. "I'll go set everything up and be back here in a moment."

---

By the time that Sanae had returned to the southern gate, the merchants and their entourage were all ready to head out. With the state that the town had been in when they had arrived, it seemed that the men of coin had deemed it proper to simply sell what they could in the day before heading out. Quite frankly, the shrine maiden couldn't blame them for their choice of action; it was difficult to sell things to people if there weren't many people to sell to, after all.

Hopefully, though, the town would recover well enough in their absence.

Millie and Alvin had initially wanted to join along with the rest of the group as they traveled the world, but with Ywain acting as their guardian (and the merchants' own insistence that bringing children along could be dangerous), the siblings eventually stood down... If only on the condition that Anne and her friends come back at some point to tell them tales of what they had seen.

It was as good a compromise as any.

With everything more or less settled as best they could be for the moment, the merchant caravan soon set off southbound, now with a few more people in tow. Slowly, the town began to shrink over the horizon as the forests began to give way to wide, rolling plains. The beaten dirt path they trod upon now was the only thing indicating any sense of direction, though it was another question entirely when they would find another town to rest at or if they would need to set up camp for the night instead.

At the very least, travel provided ample opportunity for the otherworlders to speak with one another or with the natives of the world. A trip like this meant that this would be the only company they had for a while, for better or worse.

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

With the barriers erected and travel preparations done, Remilia departed from Aventon together with most of the Otherworders while a few stayed behind to protect Millie, Alvin, and the rest of the village. A wise decision if she could say so herself, after all, Millie might still be their best ticket home, unlike Sanae's summoning earlier, they needed a way to permanently remain at their destination. If something... unfortunate happened to the young girl, complications might crop up, regardless if one cared for her or not.

Right now, the Scarlet Devil was seated on top of the highest point of the caravan, whether it was a stack of goods or a particularly tall wagon, the vampiress had claimed it as her rightful throne. Her right hand was propping the side of her head as Remilia took in the scenery; the rolling hills and green plains, it reminded her of her old home in the Outside World. "Hmmm~ clear blue skies, fine scenery, if only I have a loyal maid to hold a parasol for me, haaa..." The lilac-haired youkai murmured to no one in particular, hoping that somehow, someway Sakuya would hear her and instantly spawn beside her, parasol in hand. No such thing ended up happening, regrettably.

"So, comrades!" Remilia raised her voice as she gazed down at her fellow abductees, "What shall be our plan once we reach the capital? I personally would fancy an audience with the reigning monarch, and from there, gain access to the royal library, perhaps with their head scribe accompanying me." Why? Obviously to research as much information as they could on both Lavielle and the Raven Heralds, "I'm a lady of noble blood, therefore, I am best suited among us for such an endeavor~"

Long journeys like this one weren't wholly unfamiliar to Anne, though she'd rarely ever taken so long to cover such a short distance. It left the Knight with all too much time to ponder, her mind swirling with old regrets and fresh pangs of anxiety. She still worried about what might happen to the village, and especially the young siblings, whom she'd promised to come and see again once her business in the capital was done. She kept glancing back down the road every few minutes, as though half-expecting to see a fresh column of smoke rising in the distance.

...There are children in the capital, too, aren't there? Families, parents, people with loved ones they cherished more than their own lives. Back in Aventon Anne had arrived too late to make much of a difference, but this time, if she could only get there soon enough, she would protect everyone. That desire burned in her like a hidden flame, and for much of the time her eyes remained fixed on the path ahead, as though she could will the whole caravan to travel faster.

"I can go with you, since I have diplomatic training." When Remilia piped up, the Knight was the first to answer, having already considered the problem over the past few days. "I'm not sure the authorities will let us see the monarch directly, but if we lead with information about the attack on Aventon, they'll have to at least hear us out. A kingdom can't ignore raids from beyond its borders, especially not from a threat as big as the Heralds."

More importantly, the destruction of the village was easy to verify: both the merchants and the mercenaries had seen the aftermath and could vouch for Anne's group if necessary. "First we show that our word is reliable, then we leverage interest in our exoticism. Build connections, and use it to gain access and support." With luck, they'd be able to secure aid for Aventon, as well as the cooperation of the local military in dealing with whatever threat Lavielle had warned them about.

@Izurich

Mokou had elected to make sure they weren't being followed, by the simple expedient of staying at the front of the group, flying, and drifting backwards at the pace they were setting. It didn't seem like she was in any danger of getting tired... although, maybe it was simply possible that she wouldn't. Or spending all her time wandering around the bamboo forest had done at least one thing for her health in the sense of stamina, even if in every other regard she appeared to be made of glass.

So far, the white-haired girl hadn't said anything, occasionally going back to wondering how the Moriya Shrine had brought Lake Suwa with them. The lakeshore had been populated even back in her day, not just the shrine, so there was no chance of that being forgotten and falling into Gensokyo organically. But to outright take the lake... that seemed unreasonable. Maybe it had been duplicated somehow? It wasn't like she was in a position to know that much.

The current conversation on meeting royalty—"I'd say I know court protocol but that's not much use here, you know?"

It wasn't like her young life had been flush with chances to use it, either.

---

Joker walked alongside the caravan, his tailcoat slung across his shoulder as he let the cool breeze flow past him. Why did his outfit have to be black? Being in the direct sunlight, his coat got hotter than usual... He kind of missed the Tokyo subway system, albeit it was constantly a tight squeeze, it still got him from place to place when he needed it... Alas, modern-day innovations were non-existent, as he fully realized when he pulled out his phone, clicking the power button a few times, the black screen of the device refusing to glow to life.

Dead. Great.

He sighed, slipping the expensive paperweight back into his pocket, just in case it would be of use later. His mind wandered to Aventon, and what had happened... and what could have become of the town if they couldn't had been too late.

As the conversation of diplomacy and getting themselves heard by those higher up in the rankings, the masked boy glanced over to the girls as they talked amongst each other. He knew some things about the old shogunates of prior eras of Japan, but wasn't quite sure about this country's governmental structure.

Some knowledge is better than ignorance at least.

Yet, he stayed quiet.

@PKMNB0Y





Fran had taken to walking alongside the caravan as well, opting to take in the scenery over sitting in one of the wagons. Back in her world she hailed from, she never really had time to take in and appreciate her surroundings, far too concerned with chasing after her creator...her father so that he may create her male counterpart to complete her. Here, however, she truly slowed down to see greenery of the forests, the rolling hills, the clear blue sky. The serene and peaceful landscape that stretched out before her was something one would stop and just...bask in the atmosphere. Fran definitely wouldn't mind picking flowers that were surely blooming around here.

Remilia then suggested that the group should head straight for the head of the ruling party in the capital, Mokou concurring yet Anne warning that they might not be able to gain an audience so quickly and directly, opting to convince them by giving out information about the Herald attack on Aventon.

"Mmmmmmm...", mumbled Fran out loud, expressing her doubts. While Anne's plan was competently sound, the berserker's gut told her that things wouldn't go that smoothly.

And with just a few more words and talk, they where off towards the capitol, which was certainly a step up from where presently at importance wise, though as it turned out this fact wasn’t clear to all of them, as Lewa, as it turned out, didn’t know what one of those was.

“A capital is, generally, the biggest city in a country, and it's where the leaders of that country live and do their whole, well, ruling thing thing from” she explained loosely, hoping that at least some of those concepts had a parallel in Lewa’s world, before adding that “if you need me to define any of those words, I can” because if the place he lived had didn’t have capital cities, then maybe it didn’t have nations or rulers or, well, any of those kinds of things.

She wasn’t quite sure if that would make it a better or worse place than the ones that did.

As for the plans of what to get there, well, Remilia and Anne
seemed to want to get an audience with the rulers of the place, and though Anne’s plan certainly seemed better than Remilia’s leaning on noble blood that she couldn’t prove she had, Rayne wasn’t so sure if their reporting of an attack on an outlying village would have that much weight. You’d hope so, but Rayne didn’t exactly have that much trust in authorities these days. One had destroyed most of the life on their world in the name of greed, the other had been full of propagandists who had refused to listen to her when the fate of what little life was left had been at stake.

“I mean, couldn’t we just tell them we are from another world? Assuming we can prove it anyway, that would be something noteworthy to any ruler, surely?” she pointed out. Even if it was only for the novelty factor, meeting extra-dimensional visitors was surely kind of a big deal.

She also suggested that “maybe we should ask some of the caravaners if they’ve heard of the raven heralds, or if the attack would be considered a big deal? Or even just what the leaders or like so we’re prepared for when we get there?” assuming that the well traveled merchants would probably have more of a finger on the pulse of their nation than the villagers living out on its outskirts.

Despite his lonesome forays during the last couple days, there was a lot of this world left for Lewa to see, and a long, slow trip through unknown territories meant that he could grow more familiar with the realm he'd been brought too. His island home, divided into six wahi that encapsulated its different biomes, had nothing like these sprawling grasslands as far as he knew. Compared to the jungles of Le-wahi, the prairie seemed sparse and practically lifeless, but its size still impressed him. Out here, with no trees or cliffs to deflect them, the winds blew with unfettered strength, and Lewa could see them rippling across the fields, like rippling waves in a sea of grass. Faced with such boundless grandeur, he felt very small.

Of course, while the simple act of sightseeing both interested and centered him, Lewa's best source of vital information lay not outside the caravan, but among his fellow travelers. The hours spent traveling afforded him the chance to talk with anyone who'd listen, asking the most basic and obvious questions one could conceive of as he strove to understand a world with underpinning intimately familiar to everyone else, but almost totally alien to himself. Any such interview with the toa of air involved multiple interjections asking for additional definitions or explanations, and though Lewa did his best to not test anyone's patience, he kept a close eye out for any signs from his conversational partners that he'd better move on. Still, he found enough helpful volunteers that the toa managed to get a crash course on humans and civilization, impossibly broad as those topics might be. Not enough that he could brave this new world on his own, but he didn't feel quite so hopelessly clueless.

At length, some of the others began discussing plans for when they reached the capitol. It was, admittedly, hard to not overthink about this journey's destination. From what Lewa understood, the otherworlders were bound for a settlement of incredible size, many, many times larger than the likes of Le-koro, or even the village of Aventon. It was hard to imagine, and that made planning what he'd do there all the more difficult, but Lewa did have at least one idea once Remilia and Anne stated their intentions. "If you're going to see-visit whoever's in charge, perhaps I could search-seek anything related to Lavielle." He narrowed his eyes, sorting through his new vocabulary words. "If this 'goddess' is someone big-important to the 'people' of this world, surely she must have followers. Maybe even a place where they meet-gather." If he could track down humans who knew something about the being who'd stolen him, he could learn everything they knew about their 'goddess'.

It had been difficult, though she'd been ready to spring into action to try and prevent the goddess from taking a relatively friendly duel into a lethal one, to prevent herself from feeling a little jealous.

She knew that, by Kochiya's nature, and the nature of her goddesses, it ultimately made sense for her to be able to summon them to her side even here. Provided she had the requisite faith, at least.

That being said, it didn't stop the clutching, gnawing feeling lingering in the core of her heart.

Youmu still had no way of reaching her mistress, Saigyouji Yuyuko. And of course, entering the netherworld wasn't possible for those goddeses. So even if she had been able to ask, it only would have amounted to something if Yuyuko left the netherworld first.

... Surely, she must be looking for her. That meant, at the very least, it's likely she would learn she was mostly alright and would return home as soon as she possibly could.

It wasn't as if Youmu lacked concern for this world's people, but Yuyuko-sama and her duty were always foremost in the half-phantom's mind. Naturally, that meant ensuring a route back home as soon as she possibly could.

"Yuyuko-sama..."

Regardless of her mistress's oddities, the Princess of the Netherworld was nobility. She would have been far more capable in the coming scenario then Youmu herself felt she would be.

While she was versed in proper etiquette, she wasn't exactly known for having political savvy. And swinging one's sword wasn't the kind of problem-solving that such situations might require.

More than that, though, she wanted to see her mistress again. To know she was doing well at the very least, if she couldn't be there for the sake of her defense.

"While I know about etiquette, I don't know very much about politics," she said, after a moment, mind still wandering quietly, "So I'm not sure if I'd know what to say to the ruler of this country."

Sanae had been rather quiet as she followed the rest of the group alongside the caravan, if only because the entire situation was growing increasingly more complex the more she thought about things. The keywords of 'capital' and 'danger' had obviously been at the forefront of her mind, and coupled with the whole mess that had apparently allowed her to call out to Suwako-sama as she had..

Well, it was a giant question of "where to begin" now. Before she could spend too long lost in her own thoughts, though, the Scarlet Devil had spoken up, prompting the group into a conversation as to how to proceed with their plans. The green-haired girl listened in silence to the conversation that followed, all the while thinking about where to best focus her own efforts in the process.

That didn't mean that their current plan, vague as it was, was without flaws, though.

"I think Rayne's got a point," the shrine maiden chimed in as she crossed her arms and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. "That said, it'd have to be some uncannily lax kingdom to let a bunch of strangers claiming to have come from another world into the audience of the most important figure in the nation, and I don't know if we'd get an audience if we just presented the Raven Herald attack to him as evidence. At most, we'd probably get, like... I don't know, some cranky old military man to check things out?"

After saying that, however, Sanae figured that following in Lewa's footsteps and figuring out more about the world—and of the threat prophesized to be bearing down upon them—seemed to be the most reasonable course of action.

"If you want to handle politics and high society, by all means. I'm going to do what I do best and go around trying to figure out the culprit behind whatever's threatening the city," she added before thinking for a bit more. "...Are we just going to be splitting into teams for this, then? It certainly feels like everyone's got different priorities..."

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

Ah, it seemed that a few of her comrades could immediately see the merits of having allies in high places, while some others... needed to be informed first. No matter, not everyone was fortunate enough to be raised in high society after all.

"A most welcomed suggestion, Lady Anne," Remilia giggled approvingly, parting her lips in a fanged grin, "I suspect not, since we're practically strangers to them, but all efforts begin with the first step." The Half-Machine Knight's idea to report the Raven Heralds' incursion upon the kingdom's territory was fine as well; Remilia knew that she herself wouldn't tolerate intruders wreaking havoc in her domain, any sovereign worth their title shouldn't either. "With your skills as a diplomat, I shall be expecting you to serve as my aide upon our arrival at the capital." With that, The Knight should tread lightly indeed, lest the Scarlet Devil began to see her as a surrogate Sakuya of some sort. Unless, she didn't mind such things, after all, despite all of her quirks and flaws, the fact remained that for centuries now, Remilia were always accompanied by subjects loyal enough to lay down their life for her if it came down to it.

"You're a lady of noble blood as well, or am I mistaken?" The lilac-haired youkai shifted her attention to the immortal pyromancer of the group and fellow Gensokyoan, "Unless you've forgotten all manner of court etiquette over eons of vagrancy, I'd like to have you with us as well, Mokou." Though the vampiress believed the forest wanderer had "lesser" noble qualities than her, she believed Mokou still possessed an aura of elegance that only those who learned and practiced noblesse oblige could have.

The Knight-Witch Rayne and the Shrine Maiden Sanae brought a valid concern in tandem to what Anne mentioned earlier, yes, indeed, first impressions are essential, most especially when addressing figures of authority, fortunately for everyone, Remilia had just the answer. "Fear not, Lady Rayne and my dear comrades," The vampiric haemomancer huffed as she proudly placed a hand against her chest, "I shall prove the immediate benevolence of our presence by offering to heal any ailing subjects of the monarch. After all, one may easily dismiss a peddler or a jester as unneeded, but most certainly not a doctor." Remilia then flashed a quick smirk at the Toa of Air, it had seemed his words during their time hunting boar together were resonating deeper than anyone had expected, including the recipient herself. If only she knew how easy it was to gain adoration and respect simply by healing, she'd have become a dedicated healer centuries ago.

As for the suggestion first brought up by Lewa, "Excellent, while my accomplices and I seek an audience with the monarch, the rest of us can scout for anything that may prove useful to us in the city itself." She leaned forward ever so slightly, "In fact, as Lady Rayne mentioned, we can start right away by inquiring these fine merchants."