A nameless girl, traumatized to the point of catatonia. Another mystery Anne didn't have time to solve. For every answer her party uncovered, a dozen more questions seemed to rear their heads, leaving the otherworlders hardly better off than they had been before. Just what, she wondered, would it take for them to find a way back home? Would it even be right for them to leave, if it meant abandoning the people of this planet to their fate?

The Knight's doubts weighed heavily on her over the following days, and she found a welcome distraction in caring for the newest member of their band. If the child didn't open up, it wouldn't be for lack of trying on her part—she spoke to the girl often, telling her stories half-remembered from old books. At any given hour, one could often find Anne sitting peacefully by her new charge's side, or fretting over her like a particularly anxious nanny, who only reluctantly allowed her vampire companion to lean in for a quick blood sample. For the remainder of the journey, she at least seemed... If not happy, then at least content with her newfound purpose.

Then the day arrived, and the walls of Nieve loomed before them all. They seemed relatively intact from the outside, which was a relief, but there would still be no time to waste in getting down to business.

Though Anne didn't feel particularly happy about it, her duty here trumped any personal commitments, and she had given Remilia her word before. With a small sigh, she guided the golden-haired girl to the remainder of the party, in particular the towering green robot among them.

"Lewa, can you keep an eye on our young friend here? You can always take her with you while you look around." She remembered him talking about searching the city for signs of Lavielle, and that certainly sounded safer than walking into a nest of aristocratic vipers. Besides, the toa was arguably the most gentle and pacifistic of their entire party: who better to care for a helpless girl in Anne's own absence? The Knight punctuated her request with a rather insistent smile, and then hurried off after Remilia before he could voice a single word in protest.

I believe in you, Lewa! She'd make it up to him later.

It took her only a few seconds to catch up with the vampire, and she was only slightly out of breath when she did. "L-Lady Remilia, have you thought about how we're supposed to make our introductions? They won't have heard of what happened in Sila or Aventon yet, and besides those we won't have much to back up our claims..." Both of them were gifted in their own ways, but magic was already a thing here, and the denizens of the capital would surely be harder to impress than a bunch of country bumpkins.

@Lugubrious@Izurich

Traveling for days on end did a lot did a lot of damage the Toa of Air's carefully-reconstructed resolve, eroding away his veneer of positivity until his anxieties once again lay bare and plain to see. He found it very difficult to feel as though he were making any kind of progress on a grand adventure while traveling at a snail's pace. How he longed to speed ahead, leaving the caravan wagons in the dust as he blew across this landscape like the wind itself! But the trip so far had taught him that this continent must be orders of magnitude more vast than his island home, so without the guidance of this world's locals he would be completely and utterly lost. So he walked, and waited. Withstanding every empty, mind-numbing hour, every breakdown and rut in the road, every night the organics spent sleeping while he roved around the countryside, lest he lay awake. Any minute, after all, could be the last for Le-koro and his people, crushed by the mindless onslaught of the Bohrok Swarm while its guardian was nowhere to be found, his brothers and sister ignorant of his disappearance or stretched too thin to stave off the tide of destruction. Making it back and finding his homeland in ruin, its vast and beauteous jungles melted into toxic sludge by the Lehrok, would be worse than never making it back at all. Lewa could not turn away from his duty, however, so if there existed any chance of returning from whence he came, he had to try.

At long last, after three soul-crushingly monotonous days on the road, the otherworlders came within sight of their destination. "Nieve," Lewa murmured, the name of the city never far from his mind these days. "Finally." Even from this distance, the toa could make out its astonishing scale. During his time as one of Mata Nui's guardians he'd traveled all across the island, witnessing the icy spires of Ko-koro, the underground village of Onu-koro, and the huts of Ga-koro on their sprawling mats of buoyant kelp. Out of all the settlements across Mata Nui, none impressed so much as Ta-koro, a citadel of ignenous stone that rose from a lake of boiling lava. Even that, however, paled in comparison to this human city in terms of size. All six Matoran villages combined might not be Nieve's equal, and it seemed obvious that more people existed in this one place than across all of Mata Nui. The smallness of Lewa's whole world came as a humbling realization. He swallowed, and pressed on alongside the others.

Lewa followed the caravan inside, his appearance raising no objections, but a handful of eyebrows. Some of the humans he met already referred to him as a 'golem', but even if the average person here could grasp at that plausible explanation, it did not suffice to fully explain something intrinsically alien to this setting. He proceeded warily, trying to set the humans' minds at ease with cheerful smiles and waves, rather like a country bumpkin who'd never before experienced civilization. Which, of course, wasn't far from the truth. If there was one thing clear in his mind, though, it was his purpose here. Having had several days to come up with a suite of questions, and get advice from the others on how best to pose them, Lewa felt very eager to begin his hunt for Lavielle. By now, he didn't care one whit about 'how' or 'why', only whether or not the goddess could return him to Mata Nui.

But just after selecting a group of idle citizens to query, and before actually approaching them, the toa received a question of his own. "Huh? Why me?" He had avoided the mysterious ailing child until now, feeling completely unable to care for the helpless girl in any capacity. Matoran might be smaller than toa, but they were all fully capable and complete beings, comparable to human adults. The concept of a child was beyond him. Yet out of everyone Anne singled him out, then ran off before he could tell her she was making a mistake. The buck had been well and truly passed.

After a moment Lewa shook his head, despondent. "Mata Nui..." He looked down at the girl. Not being the merchants' problem, she could no longer enjoy the shelter of the caravan, so she currently lay on the ground. He stared at her for a moment, unmoving. Why was she his problem? He never wanted any involvement with her, or anyone here for that matter. Dumping this responsibility on him like this was neither smart nor fair. Why shouldn't he just walk away?

Unfortunately, Lewa knew the answer. If his actions displeased Anne, or any of the otherworlders, and they managed to find him, they could easily destroy him. While a beacon of strength and hope in his world, he barely registered in this one, so his continued existence depended on keeping the others happy. But the fact remained that he couldn't care for a human, especially a young one that couldn't even communicate with him. "Cross-wired piraka," he muttered in frustration, his plans completely derailed. He reached down and picked up the catatonic child as gently as he could. If he couldn't take care of her, who could? Remilia had healing abilities, but she couldn't repair the girl. Come to think of it, she wasn't 'human' either. Maybe if he could find a healer from this world, with a better understanding of how humans worked, someone like that could fix whatever was wrong with the child. Or at least make her comfortable? Better that than roaming around with Lewa for hours and hours. "It's worth a go-try." With a sigh he set off with a new set of questions in mind, now on the hunt for the city's medical center.

Four days of travel and occasional informal magic training later, and their destination was in sight. Indeed it was rather hard to miss, the vast settlement, with its high walls and castle towering above all, dominated the local landscape. It was also incredibly picturesque, and certainly a sight the witch-knight enjoyed taking in, both from afar and also once they were inside.

That said, it was mostly the clean white aesthetics she was enjoying rather than any kind of enamorment with city life. The witch-knight had rather enjoyed her decade of peaceful life provincial farming that she’d lived on the outskirts of her world’s last settlement, which made the places they had been a lot more her speed than this one.

That said, it was still a bit nostalgic for the world that had come before the sky broke, while also lacking the magitech that had destroyed it, so she’d deal with the hustle and bustle of the untold number of souls cycling through the wheel within these walls as best she could.

Being able to float above it all now helped quite a bit with that as it turned out.

All that said, after all their traveling she did think it would be nice to get a hot meal and a drink at a tavern, but it looked like at least some of their crew was going to get straight down to business. First on this was Lady Remilia, who immediately began striding off in the direction of the castle with the intent of meeting with its owner. That felt a bit overconfident to Rayne, it had to be said, and indeed Anne did conveniently put voice to those concerns when the woman ran after her.

That left her to voice some other ones, which she did while drifting over head and asking “If we are splitting up, we should arrange a time and place to meet back up?” before making a suggestion: “When I was talking to the caravaners, they mentioned the ‘Dancing Donkey’ inn is a good place to stay in town. If we all head back there back there around sundown, we’ll have a place to meet, eat and spend the night”

It was one for travelers, unsurprisingly given the source of the information, and one fairly close to the entrance to the city they’d just come in. That made pointing out/giving directions to the twos story building with a sign sporting a very jovial looking ass on it very convenient.

Assuming she got agreement to that, from Anne and Lady Remilia, her next task was hunting down anyone and everyone else who’d set off on their own quest. For example, Lewa, who had apparently had child watching duty dumped on him? She had no idea why, but he seemed to have a plan, and with his size and distinctive appearance was relatively easy to spot from on high. As such, she’d catch up to him, fill him in on her plan before floating back to do the same for those who had yet to decide on where they were off to.

Only after that, would she try and figure out where she herself was going. Perhaps to find a library, assuming they had a publicly accessible one, was her first thought, and, failing that, some place of gods or higher learning. Learning more about their apparently obscure kidnapping goddess could only help them, she thought.

@PKMNB0Y @Drifting Pollen @Izurich





As the motley crew of otherworlders approached the capital, Fran was struck by a brief bout of nostalgia. She recalled being in another castle back in Trifas, where it served as a base of operations for Team Black. The castle here, easily seen high above even the giant walls, was just as grand. She hoped there was a garden or, at the very least, a courtyard where she could find and gather flowers.

Once the caravan stopped and the crew disembarked, Remilia wasted no time in making her way toward the castle, no doubt wanting to speak with the current ruler of Nieve. Anne quickly followed the vampire, leaving Lewa to handle the nameless girl they took with them, who wandered off with his charge, though not without a bit grumbling. Rayne had also decided to check out the rest of the town, after notifying everyone that they should gather at a 'Dancing Donkey' inn as a rendezvous point.

After moment of thinking and with nothing better to do, Fran made the decision to follow Anne and Remilia toward the castle, catching up with them in no time. Between the two of them, negotiations should be smooth, but...

One can never know what might happen.

Unfamiliar.

That was the best word she could use to describe her feelings.

The human village was the biggest settlement she'd ever seen before, when it came to human beings. And certainly, it was bustling and full of activity. But this place was nothing like the human village. Not only did it boast the same unfamiliar architecture of the small villages they'd seen so far, but it was filled with an incredible amount of people.

Youmu let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't think it's going to be any easier finding a way to communicate with Yuyuko-sama here then it was in any of those villages," lamented the half-phantom.

At least the little girl they'd found seemed alright. There was a strange, familiar and yet unfamiliar feeling about her, one that she couldn't really adequately describe in words, but since the girl hadn't spoken very much it was hard to get any answers about who she was or what happened.

Still, Youmu had to do something, even if there was no way for her to know what. Perhaps this world had some sort of magic that would let her contact Yuyuko-sama, or expediate their purpose? Either she would at least be able to speak with her mistress, or she'd reach the completion of their goal here and be returned to Gensokyo.

At least that's what she hoped.

Taking a step forward, Youmu paused after a moment to look back over her shoulder.

"Fujiwara-san, do you want to come with me?"

She didn't really know why she was inviting the Hourai immortal along, not in the least. But it made more sense to look for something potentially helpful together rather then split up even more then they already had.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

The girl didn't speak for some time before she was picked up. It was hardly surprising, given her prior lack of response, but after a moment she seemed to stir, one delicate hand curling slightly.

Perhaps it would be difficult for the Toa, immensely physically powerful and still largely unfamiliar with human being as he was, to tell, but she was almost impossibly light. Far more then her appearance should have suggested.

For the first time since they departed the village, she spoke.

"... You won't rot, will you...?"

Her voice was quiet, and slightly strained due to a lack of speaking for so long, but the fear and worry in her tone was self-evident.

@PKMNB0Y@Lugubrious

"Um, I don't think that we should..."

As soon as they were past the gates of the city, Remilia had wasted no time at all in rushing off to do... Whatever it was that she intended to do. It was only natural that Sanae would try—and fail—to dissuade her from counting her chickens before they hatched, at the very least. She wasn't an expert in politics in any sense, especially when her patron deity was the one at the helm of anything on that front, but she had enough sense about her to understand that charging straight towards an asking for an audience from the highest power in the nation they were in right now was more than a bit absurd. It'd have been the equivalent of someone like her trying to question the Prime Minister back while she was a student in the Outside World, which... Well, to be frank, seemed a bit more apt given the vampire's relative size and stature.

Hopefully, Anne's choice to accompany her would also extend to keeping her from making them all public enemy no. 1 by accident; Fran's choice to tag along with them didn't sway Sanae's opinion one way or another, but the hopes that things wouldn't spiral completely out of control were still worth holding onto at this point in time.

That, however, meant that the blonde child they had brought along would be left in Lewa's care, as per Anne's own decision. It didn't take much for the Toa to leave with the child in search of what the young woman could only assume was a way to care for her, which left the options of exploring with those remaining...

And with Youmu opting to explore the area with Mokou, Sanae naturally gravitated towards helping figure things out with Rayne.

The shrine maiden remained mostly silent as she tagged along behind Rayne, making sure to keep an eye out for anything odd as the pair flitted to and fro around the city. While her companion found it more efficient to fly through the skies, though, Sanae chose to walk wherever she could around the area—at least, for the moment. Two people flying around when it didn't seem to be a particularly common means of travel seemed like it would quickly draw (more) attention to them, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Eventually, the two of them found themselves at a fairly large bookstore—or what seemed to be one, at least. There didn't seem to be any signs of a public library in this region, and between somewhere like this that had an air not unlike Suzunaan's back in the Human Village, it seemed like a good a place as any to start.

With a slight nod of her head, Sanae greeted the old man manning the bookstore's counter and, after asking for where any books related to history or mythology were located, began to browse through whatever tomes she could see. With none of their titles being noted on their spines, though, it seemed as if the only thing to be done would be pulling each point of interest out, one by one, and skimming through it as best she could.

While Sanae had begun her own attempts at research, though, Rayne would find that another person already there had been perusing what tomes were there already. They wore a hooded robe to conceal their form, but it seemed that the briefest glance towards the newcomer would cause them to calmly clap the tome closed and turn ever so slightly towards the girl.

"Seeing someone else around here is rare," they remarked as they casually glanced at the halfling's body. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

@DracoLunaris@VitaVitaAR

---

With everyone else having all but left the area to seek out answers of their own, the two residents of Gensokyo were left more or less to their own devices and wander the city at their own pace. With no immediate purpose or way to seek out the root of the incident (as was par for the course), though, relying on their instincts for any vague sense of direction would be the best way to proceed.

For a while, nothing seemed all too out of the ordinary; people traveled around in fairly simple clothing, and though the pair drew a few glances, nobody seemed to do more than that before moving on. Thus was the nature of a populated city, after all; compared to somewhere like Aventon or the Human Village, the people here had more to do, and life moved at a pace to match their ever-changing needs and goals.

Eventually, though, Youmu would find herself bumped into by a woman whose appearance very much did not match those of the people around them. With a straw kasa hat covering the wildly vibrant pink hair beneath and a pair of katana at her side, after all, how could she not stand out?

"Oops! Sorry, sorry," the woman who the white-haired girl had bumped into said, one hand holding onto her hat as the other grasped onto Youmu's shoulder so as to make sure that she didn't fall over from the impact. "You were just so small that I didn't see you there."

The was a brief pause as she seemed to size up Youmu, though, and once her gaze fell towards the young woman's own pair of blades, her mannerisms seemed to change entirely.

"...Hmmm...? That's an interesting pair of swords you've got there. Do you happen to—"

Before she could speak any further, though, a rather irate voice chimed in from behind the wandering swordswoman. A small girl who looked to be even shorter than Youmu, with her hair braided past her back and a robe covering her body, simply stared at the woman with a look of exasperation.

"Are you trying to pick another fight?" she asked as she crossed her arms. "Honestly, if I knew you were this addicting to fighting I'd have reconsidered making this contract of ours in the first place."

"Oh, it's fine, isn't it? It's not like I'm cutting people down in the middle of the street," the swordswoman replied with a smirk. "And besides, if a cute girl like that bumps into me and has the air of a trained swordmaster about them, how am I supposed to resist asking for a bout?"

Upon hearing this, the smaller girl sighed before motioning for the woman to step aside and placing herself into the conversation.

"My apologies for my companion's behavior. As you might have been able to tell by her being... Herself, I suppose, she's a bit of a battle maniac," she remarked as she quickly looked over both of the white-haired girls in front of her. "Now, if you'll excuse us..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

---

Regardless of anyone else's misgivings about the situation at hand, Remilia's intent to head straight to the heads of the nation and do... Whatever it was she was planning would be promptly stopped by the presence of the guards standing by at the gates in front of the castle grounds. While the plaza in front of the building was abuzz with activity, what with people milling about or otherwise going about their lives, though, their focus did not seem to waver in the least.

It was only natural, then, that they were able—and more than willing—to stop the vampire and her entourage if they so much as attempted to enter the premises.

That was their job, after all, and what would it say about the nation's security if any random person was able to so casually meet with royalty, regardless of what their intentions might have been?

@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

---

Putting aside the blonde girl's unnerving comments—the first words she had spoken to anyone since they had first met her—Lewa would be met with far more curious gazes from the passersby than any of his more (overtly-)human companions. It was hard to ignore the presenve of a massive golem walking through the streets carrying a young girl in its arms, of course, but nobody present seemed to have any desire to try and stop something like that.

And given how the city guards didn't seem to be in hot pursuit of it, surely they had to be aware of it already, right?

Regardless of anyone else's thoughts on the matter, though, Lewa would eventually find himself at a somewhat worn-down building constructed in a similar style to the one he had been first summoned into this world into. Here, though, there were people...

And no small number of them seemed to be physically unwell. There were a few men and women running around with bowls, towels, and buckets, but if there was anywhere that seemed to be a center for the infirm, this... Probably would be it.

The reason as to why they were all here would have been a question in it's own right, though.

@Lugubrious@VitaVitaAR

After the party split up into several smaller groups, Remilia hummed in approval as The Half-Machine Knight caught up to her, yes, indeed, her very own lady-in-waiting, Anne wasn't Sakuya but she shall do. "Oh?" Then she perked up in a pleasant surprise as yet another otherworlder joined them; she wasn't expecting the salmon-haired bride's participation, but she certainly would welcome it.

"Well, well, well, it seems this will be an outing of not two, but three, ohohoho~" The lilac-haired youkai veritably exuded utter confidence as she strutted through Nieve's streets, commanding that unmistakable presence only those born and raised in high culture could accomplish. Truly, the royal family should be honored for the privilege of hosting the Scarlet Devil.

"Why, of course, Lady Anne, we shall greet them with honesty and decorum." Remilia answered simply, no doubt convinced that her simply being herself would be enough to be granted entry...

...or so she thought.

"W-w-w-wha-... what is this insolence?!" Soon enough - and perhaps predictably so for Anne - Remilia could be seen barking up at the castle guards, fuming at their sheer audacity to deny them entry, "Don't you simpletons know who I am?! I'm Lady Remilia of House Scarlet, you unwashed peas-!!" It was clear that if no one stepped in, the vampiress would definitely continue chewing the poor guards out, for Lavielle knows how long.

@Drifting Pollen @Rezod92

Anne had known from the start that Remilia would be tricky to manage, but even she hadn't expected the vampiress to be quite this blunt. Now, she watched the proud lady rage at the guards from a few paces back, and tried in vain not to let her embarrassment show on her face.

I really should stop her... Seriously, why do I always end up with these types... Her gaze slid over to the horned girl beside her, the half-mute chimera from another time and place. What was Fran even doing here right now? Had she come to help, or just followed along out of boredom? She was the last person Anne would have picked for this negotiating team, and certainly not equipped to handle a delicate situation such as this. In the worst-case scenario, she might be able to 'calm Remilia down' with that giant mace of hers—but it would be better to resolve things without resorting to violence in the first place.

With a weary breath, the Knight straightened her shoulders and stepped up to Remilia's side. "My Lady," she said, taking a half-bow with her hand laid over her heart, "please don't trouble yourself over such trivial matters. The good people of Nieve are doubtless merely unaware of your true stature: let me resolve this misunderstanding, and I'll see to it that you're welcomed as befits someone of your status."

Her sudden change in demeanor would be obvious to even the introverted Fran, but Anne's flattery served two purposes. Her goal wasn't only to mollify Remilia and keep her from escalating further, but also to lend credence to her claims of wealth and status. The guards would never yield to the badgering of some unknown girl—but when that girl was clearly accompanied by a deferential servant, who herself was dressed in cleaner and more flashy clothing than half the people in the plaza, they might start to have second thoughts. Even if they couldn't let her through, did they really want to risk making a rich and powerful enemy?

Before any of them had a chance to consider it too carefully, Anne addressed them all herself. "As my Lady has generously informed you, she belongs to an esteemed and noble house, from outside the borders of your country. We come with urgent information, of some military importance—and it would please my Lady to know how she should arrange an audience with the royal household, or at least a general in their service." There had to be some way to get an in with the court, so long as they managed to avoid being blacklisted from the outset.

@Rezod92@Izurich@PKMNB0Y

@PKMNB0Y @Izurich @Drifting Pollen





Soon enough, the trio would arrive at the front gates of the castle, their way currently barred by the presence of guards.

"Hmmm.", mumbled Fran with a tilt of her head. Alas, it made sense. Any self-respecting monarch, in any shape or form, wouldn't just have their doors open for anybody, let alone three strangers who were literally not from around here...

"W-w-w-wha-... what is this insolence?! Don't you simpletons know who I am?! I'm Lady Remilia of House Scarlet, you unwashed peas-!!"

...Which Remilia didn't seem to understand, now throwing a fit and causing a scene. Unseen due to her bangs, Fran turned to the outraged vampire, perplexed eyebrow raised. What exactly was she expecting? The berserker was willing to bet her war mace that there was no one in this world that knew of Remilia or her House, so why would they care? Sighing, Fran stepped forward, reached out to brag Remilia by the scruff of her dress before lifting the little vampire with ease.

"Ah.", Fran said to Anne as stepped back from the guards, small aristocrat in tow, in a tone that said, "Please handle this before this brat embarrasses us further."

Though she couldn't explain it, Anne felt like she should definitely be the one to talk to the guards. She had a gut feeling that, if this was up to Fran, they could easily gain entry.....but that would cause problems...

A lot of problems.

The guards did little more than glance awkwardly between one another and the lilac-haired girl as the latter threw a fit in front of them, neither sure about how to react to her in the first place. They could tell at a glance that the girl was of... Better off than most of the city's residents, if only thanks to her clothes, but going so far as to throw a tantrum to try and get past them was a bit much.

Thankfully, two women who seemed to be the apparent child's caretakers appeared and saved them from the awkward responsibility of having to placate a child. The first one, at least, seemed to be open to words—though their station allowed them little leeway for small talk.

"Diplomatic missions would usually be received at the embassy, regardless of their purpose," one remarked in kind, with a face indicating that they were more willing to speak with an adult than with a petulant child. With his voice tinged, with a bit of pity for the apparent servants having to deal with their master's whims, he added, "It's the building over there—the building with the two silver spires sticking out from it in the distance."

That was the best information they could afford to give, at least. Hopefully, the child among them wouldn't continue causing a scene at the gates in the interim.

@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

"Ah-"

Youmu blinked, taking a step back, her phantom half wavering behind her. Someone hadn't seen her? Surely she wasn't unnoticeable, it wasn't as if she was trying to be sneaky!

Not that the young half-phantom was particularly talented in the ways of stealth even when she was doing her best.

Regardless, she quickly took a step back and had to quickly catch herself at least until the woman's hand came to rest on her shoulder. No small amount of indignation rose in her heart when the woman mentioned her height, a scowl crossing her face. Her height... her height didn't matter at all. To bump into her and disparage her height...

However, all of that took a backseat in her mind when Youmu realized what kind of person had just walked into her.

To begin with, it was clear to anyone trained in any sort of battle that the way she carried herself, the way she reacted, was just slightly different. A quicker response, even if she hadn't been watching where she was going. That alone might not have confirmed it in Youmu's eyes, but the way her stance shifted when she took note of the Roukanken and Hakurouken on Youmu's back and hip---

She didn't need to see that she was armed to know that this was a swordswoman.

But that wasn't all. Youmu hadn't seen anyone in any familiar styles of dress in this world, until she met this woman. Her features, too, marked her as from somewhere like Gensokyo, or the nation outside the barrier, at the very least. Of course, Youmu only had the absolute faintest awareness of that world.

But she felt fairly confident this woman wasn't from this one.

"It's fine," she began, "She's just rec-C-cute?"

Youmu's cheeks colored almost immediately. It wasn't exactly common for her to be called cute by a random stranger, or even those she knew. With one exception, at least. To say it was unexpected would be an understatement, and for a few moments the half-phantom found her composure shaken.

"E-er, well, th-that's besides the point..." she half-mumbled as she averted her eyes, before clearing her throat and trying to push aside and residual embarrassment, "It's simple. Those who are trained in how to wield a blade can recognize one another, can't they?"

Putting aside the obvious fact they were both carrying a pair of katana to begin with.

"I don't think either of you are from this world, are you?" she asked, "... Er, at least, I'm pretty sure you're not..."

She inclined her head towards the swordswoman after a moment's pause, realizing there wasn't exactly anything marking the little blonde girl as foreign when compared to the other people in the streets.

"Because I'm not, either," she continued, "My name is Konpaku Youmu, heir to the Konpaku school of swordplay and servant to Saigyouji Yuyuko-sama."

---Ah.

They almost certainly weren't from Gensokyo, even if the swordswoman was definitely from another world. Would her introduction even give either of them the slightest flash of recognition?

She couldn't worry about that now!

There was something more important to discuss, after all.

"---And if you want to challenge me, I'll accept."

It was only natural for a Konpaku to take the opportunity to display their training. But more importantly than that, she also wanted to try and regain use of her phantom half. While allowing the spiritual wound that had been inflicted on her to heal was important, so was stretching her muscles, so to speak.

Facing new opponents would also help her grow more experience. Grandfather had told her as much very clearly.

And, perhaps most importantly of all, meeting and interacting with more people from different worlds would maybe make her path back to Yuyuko-sama's side just that much closer.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

At last, directions to a proper diplomatic channel. Someone there would definitely be able to hear the otherworlders out, and even act upon their warnings... Assuming they could convince anyone that the threat was even real. Truth be told, Anne herself wasn't sure if she could trust Lavielle's words. Was passing on the cryptic prophecies of a goddess seen only in dreams really the right thing to do?

Her uncertainty could be seen in her eyes, even as she thanked the guard who'd helped her out and set off towards the embassy. Uncertainty, and a trace of irritation as she passed by her companions, maybe even wickedness. "Fran, make sure you keep holding her nice and tight. She's our precious Lady Scarlet, after all." There would be no more nonsense from that one, not while Anne had such quality muscle on hand to assist.

In fact, perhaps for the first time, the Knight met the horned Servant's gaze through her bangs and genuinely smiled at her. "You know, I was wondering why you came along... But it turns out I'm glad to have you with us. Let's wrap things up quickly, and get back to the others in time for dinner."

She said that, but the embassy really was a long way away. Before long the Knight's brisk pace slowed to an uneven walk, and she could be heard quietly grumbling to herself under her breath. Damn it. They don't have cars in this place... All this marching around is hell on my knees. They could probably have tried to hire a carriage or something, but that would mean parting with more of what little currency they had, a prospect Anne recoiled from instinctively. With a grimace, she forced herself onward through the bustling streets, barely paying attention to any who might be watching or passing by until she at last slumped against the embassy's heavy door and heaved it open with a grunt of exertion.

This place definitely wasn't as heavily guarded as the castle, but hopefully it wouldn't be completely deserted either. As she caught her breath, Anne looked about for someone suitably official-looking she could approach and introduce herself to. In the event that she found one, she'd quickly dust herself off before striding up to them and clearing her throat.

"Anne Mayer, representing Lady Remilia of House Scarlet. We have a message that needs to be passed up the chain of command."

@Rezod92@Izurich@PKMNB0Y

"-ants!! Eh?" The bloodfeeding youkai blinked when she heard someone addressing her, apparently she wasn't so enraged as to not be able to pause and listen, and maybe the fact it was coming from a familiar figure also played a part. Regardless, still vexed as she might be, Remilia turned her deeply frowning face at Anne, "Nnngh... fine, you handle these two lowborns."

Amazingly, Anne placated the demanding vampiress to step back so she could handle the negotiations. Things were going well... but as soon as the guards had the gall to turn her away from the royal castle and send the group to a mere embassy instead, everyone in the area could feel Lady Scarlet's tempers rising once more. "Yo- whaaa?!" However, before she could boil over into another tirade, the quietest member of the trio unceremoniously grabbed her, as if she's a wicker basket!

"@%$&?!!"

Whatever Remilia said during her bouts of kicking and screaming in Fran's vice-like grip were best never mentioned...

"Mmmngh..." Then, by the time they arrived at the embassy, the oh-so-charismatic Scarlet Devil was pouting and fuming with her arms crossed at her chest. Referred to a mere ambassador, a high nobility like her? How preposterous, this was an utter disgrace to her honor.

With indignant noises and growls still vibrating from her throat, Remilia was more than happy grumpy to let Anne do the talking this time.

@Drifting Pollen @Rezod92

@PKMNB0Y @Izurich @Drifting Pollen

"Fran, make sure you keep holding her nice and tight. She's our precious Lady Scarlet, after all."

"Ah.", replied Fran with an affirming nod, adjusting her grip so that Remilia was now being held in the crook of her arm, like one would hold a pillow.

"You know, I was wondering why you came along... But it turns out I'm glad to have you with us. Let's wrap things up quickly, and get back to the others in time for dinner."

The berserker's unseen eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time Anne gave a positive statement toward Fran and with smile to boot. With a smile of her own, Fran gave another nod.

"A...greed."

After a longer than normal walk that left Anne slightly winded, the trio finally arrived at the embassy and went to the first official they saw.

"Anne Mayer, representing Lady Remilia of House Scarlet. We have a message that needs to be passed up the chain of command."

"It...con...cerns...this...king...dom...and...others.", Fran added, ignoring the stares that were surely being shot her way. It was a strange sight, no doubt, but the trio were here on business, so the Servant didn't care.

This place was big. It wasn't anywhere near as huge as that glimpse of the cities in the outside world, but the size and scale of it? It was definitely much larger than the very little she remembered of Fujiwara-Kyou, or even Heijou-Kyou before she'd gone off after the elixir. Oh, maybe it didn't cover as much ground—she hadn't taken to the air to see, after all—but they had certainly built the city upwards a lot more; the sheer density of this place in comparison to the capitals of her childhood was astonishing.

And yet it was still so small on an objective scale. It was funny, that; if she hadn't visited the outside world, this would undoubtedly be the biggest city she'd ever stepped foot inside. Now it just seemed big by comparison.

As usual, the solution of "just walk around until you come across someone interesting" was paying off. They'd run into someone who looked like she would fit right into Gensokyo, if it came down to it, and certainly had the attitude down. What were the odds of there being another dual-sword wielding swordsman just hanging around where they could find her, anyway?

Not seeing a point in getting sliced to pieces if these two went at it right here, Mokou kept going to stand beside the blonde that was… contracted? Hm, some sort of master-familiar relationship? She did have a bit of the look of a magician about her.

It was worth asking.

"You're a magician, then?"

This city seemed impossibly large, its sheer population and its towering structures of stone unprecedented, but Lewa forged on, taking the labyrinth and its countless denizens one step at a time. He never liked traversing the claustrophobic tunnels of Onu-wahi that this place reminded him of, albeit less dark and enclosed, and while Nieve did in a way bring to mind the deep jungle of his home, its near-total lack of vegetation stripped out any semblance of familiarity. For someone used to braving the wilderness, with either wild beasts or nobody at all for company, the huge number of people felt a lot more intimidating. Nevertheless, the Toa of Air would see his duty through.

As Lewa wandered, he received a lot of inquiring or wary looks, but only once did he receive a question, and it came from a surprising source. Lewa glanced down at the tiny organic thing in his arms, surprised to hear her talk. While he hadn't paid her much mind during the trip so far, reasonable that it fell to humans to take care of their young, he'd been subjected to the same few voices for days on end as the caravan traveled, but hers was completely unfamiliar. "Rot?" he repeated, confused. That word didn't ring a bell to him. He knew that plants decayed after death, but that concept was as inapplicable to bionic beings as photosynthesis. Probably something unique to organics, he figured. "Nope!" Lewa replied after a moment, his tone cheerful as he tried to assuage her worried tone. "A toa-hero never rots." Body language might be alien to him, but if there was one thing his people had in common with humans, it was expression through voice, and Lewa was nothing if not empathetic.

Eventually, after a few rather timid attempts to ask for directions, Lewa reached a promising locale. The building that stood before him, with its distinctively elaborate windows and tall steeples, was excitingly reminiscent of the church where he first appeared in this world. In its vicinity he found a number of humans who also appeared to be suffering from ailments of one kind or another. This, he reasoned, must be where this city's people went when something was wrong with them. If they congregated here, there must be a reason, and what better than the presence of something able to fix them--or at least soothe their symptoms? Not knowing to keep his distance from any of the sick or injured, Lewa began the delicate task of navigating through the crowd to find someone who could help the child in his arms. He did his best not to ask anyone who seemed busy and risk distracting them from his work, but instead sought out an authority figure of some kind. There must be the equivalent of a Turaga here, he reasoned. Once he found a similarly old and wise authority figure, he could deliver his newfound responsibility to better-suited hands, and maybe -given the proximity of another church- get an answer or two about the elusive Navielle.

After indeed drawing a bit of attention with her floating, stares and children pointing and such, Rayne followed Sana’s example and returned to ground plodding. Plus, being able to quickly bypass all the crowds didn’t really matter if she was waiting up on someone who had to deal with it.

Of course, then the human woman had to be held up by Rayne’s short stature and stride, and also had to be the one to actually look out for things as the halfling got her sight-lines blocked by all the tall people in town.

It was thus by her eyes that they found themselves by the bookstore, having failed to find somewhere bigger, or with free access. The lack of public libraries was very much a black mark against the nation’s rulers in her mind. As it was they were going to have to pay for the knowledge they sought, if they could even find it.

Fortunately she had gotten a bit of coin doing odd jobs in this world, so if they did find something that looked promising it might be in their price range. The issue with that was that they’d probably only be able to get one or two things, so finding just the right book was key.

The complete lack of spine labeling or any real sorting system really was not going to help with that, which left Rayne stressing about going through each and every tome till she encountered the suspicious/helpful stranger.

She glanced him up and down in turn in just a touch of a ‘see how you like it’ kind of way, before tipping her hat in a witchy greeting of “hello, I’m Rayne” and then agreeing that “and yes, we are actually”

“We’ve just arrived in town," she said, answering the sudo-question about their unprecedented visit, before loosely explaining what it was they were here for “and were looking for any books that might be about, or mentioned a goddess called ‘Lavielle’. We found an old abandoned temple of her out near the border and have been asking around, but no one seems to have heard of her so she seems like she might be old or obscure?” she wasn’t entirely sure how a deity could be either of those things really, but then her world only had one. “Might be she’d be mentioned in a history book, or in some kind of, uh, book about goddesses?” she guessed before asking “don’t suppose you’ve heard of her or know where we might read about her?”

While the swordswoman's eyes seemed to immediately brighten up at the sound of the white-haired girl's reciprocation of her feelings, the smaller girl seemed far less enthused about the situation. Despite her intent to defuse the situation and hopefully continue on her way, it seemed that the world had different plans in store for her—for the moment, at least.

"Konpaku, huh...? Haven't heard of that school of swordsmanship before, but there's a first time for everything, I suppose!" the swordswoman responded before dramatically throwing her hat off to the side—and into the unfortunate hands of the girl she had been traveling with. "My name is Miyamoto Musashi, founder of the Niten Ichiryu style of swordplay! Let me see what you have to offer!"

With their formal introductions handled, Musashi slowly unsheathed both of her blades and adopted a combat stance. Given how she was in the middle of a street in so doing, though, it seemed that the passersby were quick to either clear the area or, more self-servingly, attempted to rubberneck and get a better view of the match between the two foreigners that was all but certain to break out.

To all of this, the smaller girl was left with nothing more than a straw hat in hand and a look of intense displeasure on her face as she watched her bodyguard square up for a wholly unnecessary fight. The other white-haired girl, adorned with odd red-white talismans, had chosen to approach her to strike up a conversation in the middle of the other two's duel.

"Alchemist would be more apt—especially given our current surroundings," the girl responded in kind. "I suppose your rather outlandish appearance and the words of your companion mean that you're also not from here, then? Just my luck to find more people who think that fighting random passersby makes for a good pastime..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

---

The trio's reception at the embassy was a bit awkward, to say the lest. Though Anne's clothing clearly marked her as a foreign entity in a city whose technology level was well behind what she was used to, the pair of girls she had entered with—one of whom seemed to be little more than a child who had run out of steam after throwing a fit and the other carrying her under her arm—made trying to piece the situation together rather difficult. It didn't help that the first people to meet them seemed to be rather reticent about doing so in the first place.

It could be seen as a bit of a boon, then, that someone was finally brought out to actually address them—a rather tall, well-built man in a suit whose face seemed to betray the slightest hints of aging.

"Greetings, Ms. Mayer. My name is Bren Halmir, and I work as a minister here. While I would prefer that you would go through the proper diplomatic channels..." he began to say before glancing over the group as a whole, "and for you and yours to not spend your walk here causing a scene, I believe that a discussion would at least be more productive than dismissing you outright. Would you mind following me to my office?"

Assuming that the trio agreed, Bren would promptly lead them to another room—one filled with shelves full of documents—before promptly taking a seat at his desk and continuing to speak after gesturing for the three to do the same on the other side of it.

"Now, placing matters of walking into a government building filled with international officials in such a manner aside, I would not normally entertain something like this. So please, speak frankly, and without falsehood; I will judge whether or not to proceed afterwards."

@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

"Miyamoto... Musashi?"

It wasn't the first time she'd ever heard that name. Though the Konpaku style of swordplay differed, certainly, her grandfather had told her about an ordinary human with extraordinary skills as a samurai. One who wielded two swords, not dissimilarly to the Konpaku school.

Niten Ichiryu.

That was it, wasn't it?

But the Miyamoto Musashi she'd learned about was a man. The one she faced now certainly wasn't. Was this a similar situation to Toyosatomimi no Miko?

Actually, what was that situation in the first place? She didn't really get it, but it was obvious the Prince Shotoku talked about in legend was definitely not a woman, so---

Aah, that was way too much to think about right now! Especially when she considered they were definitely from different worlds to begin with. Maybe the Miyamoto Musashi from that world just was a woman?

It wasn't important. It wasn't important right now at all.

Youmu took a deep breath.

"I heard about you when I was learning from my grandfather," Youmu said, doing her best to put that initial confusion behind her, "You're not the same as the one I learned about, but that's definitely the same name and the same style of swordplay."

In Gensokyo, it wasn't exactly impossible she could run across the legendary samurai in some form. It would hardly be the first time someone from the past appeared. She'd never really thought about it until now, but it was never an impossibility.

But she hadn't expected it here.

If she wanted to hone her skills and live up to Grandfather's expectations, what better opponent then someone like Miyamoto Musashi?

Placing one hand on Roukanken's hilt, Youmu slid one foot back. In the same motion, she drew the longer of her two katana in her right hand, its blade glittering in the daylight.

And then she was moving. The cobblestones beneath her feet shook. The air whipped past her.

Even injured on a spiritual level, she could do this much.

Her opening attack was a swift downward slash with Roukanken. But in the very same breath, Hakurouken left its sheath in her left hand and lashed out towards her opponent.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

"Mmm, just arrived?" mused the hooded woman, cocking her head as she spoke. Her tone indicated she was clearly intrigued by that notion, though exactly why was anyone's guess. "And looking for information on a goddess, as well? Surely, you've come to the right place. The capital's resources are far beyond anywhere else you might have visited, though some knowledge is seemingly out of the hands of shops like this."

She paused for a moment, as if considering her last words, before continuing.

"Still, if you're looking for information on a goddess, then maybe a book on theology would serve you best. Lavielle, was it..."

The cloaked woman turned towards the shelves after a moment, scanning then briefly with her unseen gaze before reaching up to grasp one particular volume that was nearly out of her reach, let alone Rayne's.

"Perhaps this one might be of assistance?"

All that could be seen of the woman's features, even at this angle, was a smile.

The book, entitled 'Ancient Divinities and those Who Worshipped Them', seemed to cover gods who were revered in the distant past. Was Lavielle really one of these deities?

It was somewhat coincidental that the cloaked woman and the book in question had been in just the right place to assist the newcomer, but perhaps that really was just mere chance.

Regardless, she offered the volume to the halfling.

"I'm afraid information on ancient gods like that is a little scarce, but I believe this book might have what you're looking for."

@DracoLunaris@PKMNB0Y

"Er... Right. Of course." It took Anne some effort to hide her embarrassment over the whole Remilia commotion, word of which had evidently preceded them here. Her little group hadn't exactly made a great first impression... If she'd had her way from the start, she'd have had them spend at least a day or two in the capital planning and preparing themselves, choosing proper outfits and forming useful connections. As things were, she was pretty much winging it, with only the barest of knowledge to go on.

Then again, maybe this was for the best? She still didn't know when or how the supposed 'danger' to the city might appear—today might be the only chance she had to warn anyone before all hell broke loose. Anne had handled plenty of messy diplomatic situations in the past; she knew this one could be salvaged if she played her cards right.

...And if her companions managed to behave themselves for this next part. A worried, pleading glance was thrown Remilia's way before Anne strode through the doorway into the minister's office.

"Thank you for hearing us out, Mr. Halmir." She took a seat, met his eyes, and tried to project her best 'calm and reasonable' impression. It was the one she normally used when begging for money to fund massive fleets of paramilitary warships, but she saw no reason that it couldn’t work here as well.

"I'll get straight to the point: about two weeks ago the town of Aventon was raided by an organized military force. They were, or appeared to be, Raven Heralds acting on orders from high-ranking superiors." The merchants had mentioned a king, and a country named Eiderheim to the north. If a rival nation truly had ordered a strike across the border, then the government here could hardly afford to ignore it.

Which, with any luck, would make them pay close attention to the next part as well. "Myself and some of our mutual associates were nearby at the time of the attack. We came to Aventon's defense and helped drive off the Heralds, though not before the town suffered heavy losses. The people there are still in urgent need of material aid and protection." She leaned forward a little, injecting a note of additional urgency into her tone. "Not long afterward, the village of Sila was assailed by a swarm of creatures not native to this land. They behaved too mindlessly to be animals—it's possible that someone purposefully summoned or created them." A shot in the dark, but he couldn't call her a liar for speculating. If she was lucky, it would get him thinking along the lines she wanted, seeing the connections without her having to bring up goddesses or dreams.

"Thanks to a stroke of good luck, our party was able to assist the defenders in intercepting the swarm before it could reach the village. We were traveling with a merchant caravan at the time, they should be able to corroborate our story if needed... More importantly, we believe these two incidents were related.”

Eye contact. Here came what she'd been building towards.

"...And we've received a tip-off that there may be more to come. An attack, in some form or another, aimed at Nieve itself."

@Izurich@Rezod92@PKMNB0Y