Despite his earlier optimism, something about this human's manner gave Lewa a bad feeling, and by the time she finally shattered his hopes with her answer he couldn't do much but stare blankly. Not human? Fae? He hadn't the foggiest what that meant, or how he was supposed to know. While his contact with the little one had been limited during the journey, he hadn't noticed anything different about her compared to the likes of Millie, other than her unresponsive behavior, maybe. He would have blamed his inexperience with humans if not for the others, who -come to think of it- hadn't fared any better than himself when it came to identifying the child's lineage. Maybe the differences weren't physical, and what the others assumed to be some kind of ailment was merely a characteristic of the fae? Or was her current state totally unrelated to her biology? Regardless, the spirit of air was in way over his head, and now there seemed to be no chance of someone else taking this unwanted child off his hands.

Unless this priestess could point him in the right direction? She seemed eager to wash her hands of this matter, but even the smallest morsel of information would be helpful at this point.

"I'm new to this land-place. I don't know what 'fae' means," Lewa confessed, his shoulders sagging. "But it sounds like only fae can help-treat fae? Do you know where I could seek-find them? I can't take care of this little one, and my time is short!" He looked around despairingly, as if searching high and low for anyone who could help him. After his eyes landed on the church, he perked up again, remembering his mission. Even if he hadn't relieved himself of his little burden, he could still try and make progress on his original goal. "This building..! Please, can I speak-talk with Lavielle? It's urgent. She stole me from my homeland, and needs to put-send me back, before the Bohrok destroy my village!" Fully aware of his own hopeless ignorance, he could only hope that his pleading had some effect.

“It’s lovely to meet you Wu Qing'e” the witch night replied to the introduction before saying that “ I’m going to thank you anyway, but for having that attitude in that case. Things’d be so much better without people squirting away knowledge for their own personal gain”

Like the fact that anyone from her world could be the focus of a link chain, that that worlds people could choose their own heroes, not just a team hand picked by former corporate marketing experts.

“Oh, and I like your nails,” she added, briefly admiring the polish work and inquiring about where Wu had gotten it from/done while Sanae did a bit of reading before the prospect of paying for the book came up.

“Yup. Well. A bit. I did a few odd jobs around the village and for the caravan while not practicing your non lethal spell card magic ” she replied, fishing around in one of her hip pouches and pulling out her not exactly substantial collection of coinage. A decade of experience with farming made for a reliable if not exactly high earning set of skills and refusing to be paid for her heroism didn’t exactly help either.

Still, better to have some coin than none, and Sanae’s lack did make her worry a bit.

“Do you think the others made any money? We’re gonna have to pay for food and places to stay now that we’re not with the caravan” she pointed out, before adding “assuming Lady Remilia’s idea doesn’t pull through, I mean” not particularly confident that it would if she was being honest.

@FujiwaraPhoenix @Izurich @Drifting Pollen

"Just stick close to me, alright? I won't let them do anything to hurt you."

Due to Fran's bangs, Anne was unable to see the look of surprise in the berserker's eyes upon hearing those words. Wasn't it the other way around? Still, to hear the futuristic swordsmen, who initially eyed her with suspicion and mistrust, say she now has her back was unexpected...

...but so very welcome.

"Ah!", Fran replied with a genuine smile as the trio made their way their next destination.



Out of all the possibilities Fran thought of when meeting a member of Nieve's royal court, this was definitely not one. Certainly, not in the form of a red headed woman coming out of a smoking room where there was a recent explosion. A curious introduction, that's for sure.

"It's my utmost pleasure to meet you, Your Highness, I am Lady Remilia of House Scarlet, here from distant lands, one of the people your ambassador spoke of."

"Anne Mayer. I'm a Knight currently in Lady Remilia's service."

"Fran. Body...guard...for...Lady...Remi...lia.", Fran chimed in, following Anne's lead in pretending to be in service to their vampire companion.

She had no real idea of her opponent's capabilities. So, when that brilliant rainbow trail lead Miyamoto Musashi directly towards her, Youmu had little choice but to break her assault and put up a defense.

Steel met steel, ringing out across the lightly-damaged street and echoing across the buildings. Her muti-pronged assault had failed entirely.

But it was only a brief setback. When it came to dueling, all she had to do was adjust the manner in which she slashed at her opponent and try again.

She analyzed her position as quickly as she could. Her opponent could close the gap faster then she expected, but at the same time Youmu firmly believed her agility was still superior. She'd simply been taken by surprise.

Just as swiftly as they'd flashed, Youmu stepped back and disengaged, alleviating the resistance against Miyamoto Musashi's blades as she did. She only needed a little bit of distance---

Pink light, the same shade as cherry blossoms, spread over Roukanken's blade, coating the edge as she channeled spiritual energy down through her limbs. A high-pressure technique that would allow her to push her opponent into a corner was what she needed.

The flashing light grew brighter, engulfing Roukanken's blade entirely, and---

"Cherry Blossom Sword - Flashing Scattered Flowers!"

Roukanken moved, as Youmu leaned forward and sprang forth to re-engage. Her flashing blade sliced the air, but not directly targeting her opponent.

Rather, with Roukanken's movement, a flurry of slashes of pink light spawned around her target and moved inwards, attacking from multiple angles simultaneously.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze

---

"Ah, thank you," Qing'e replied with a friendly smile, flashing her blue nails as she did, "I'm afraid it'll be somewhat difficult to obtain the polish for yourself, however, as it comes from my homeland."

She paused for a moment, inclining her head towards the book and scanning the passages for a few moments alongside Sanae.

"Honestly, though, the mages of this city are so close-minded. Hording knowledge for themselves. I'm certain they may have better historical texts then this shop, but they wouldn't allow me to peruse their library and reject the petitions of many others as well. Rejecting a scholar's desire to expand her knowledge---it's the height of rudeness, if I must be frank."

The hooded woman let out a heavy sigh.

But then, she tapped a finger to her chin, leaning back against the shelves for a moment.

"Ah, another matter you may be interested in," she began, addressing Sanae now, "You are a priestess, aren't you? Not of this land, of course, but your clothing stands out to me. Given I offered my assistance, would you consider offering yours in turn?"

Without waiting for a reply, she continued.

"A strange condition seems to have struck some of this city's people," she said with an idle gesture, "I'm not talking about an illness, in this case. It appears to be a more spiritual affliction. A curse."

Her shoulder slumped, slightly.

"It's not as if I want to bother you with it, but if you're able to help then I figured it might be worth asking."

@DracoLunaris@FujiwaraPhoenix

"Interdimensional? I've seen something like that, but that was all one Earth," Mokou said, regarding the swordfight as the impressive but ultimately harmless display that she was sure it was. How many different methods of interdimensional travel were there? There was Gensokyo, sealed off from the world as it was, and then there was the Lunar Capital cut off from the moon. Then there was the Netherworld, Heaven, Hell, the old Hell that wasn't separated in any fashion… and here there was a woman who knew parallel Earths.

And of course, they were all on a different place entirely, now.

Those symbols, though… "Nope, they don't mean anything to me. It's not onmyoudo." And that was about as much familiarity as she was going to have with magical symbology.

Sanae crossed her arms and cocked her head ever so slightly to the side as Rayne spoke more on matters of money. Most of the matters regarding money were handled by Kanako-sama back in Gensokyo, after all, which meant that the young woman had seldom needed to care about managing finances for herself. Coupled with the general income from donations and all of the other side-ventures that the Moriya Shrine ran, it became readily apparent that the green-haired shrine maiden had stopped needing to worry about getting money for a decent while.

Compared to the others, though, the young woman wasn't quite sure if she was the worst off in the bunch. Chief among her concerns was Remilia, who the young woman thought was more likely to have Sakuya balancing the checkbook of the Scarlet Devil Mansion in her stead.

Hopefully the others would keep that problem under wraps.

"Uh... Hopefully? I'd rather not live on the road struggling to make ends meet," Sanae replied, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly before finally turning her attention back towards the mysterious hooded woman after being directly addressed—and with a convenient job opportunity if she had ever heard of one. It was convenient, sure, but the green-haired girl was far from one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I don't mind looking into it," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Letting a curse linger would be more problematic for us, anyways; with any luck, I'd probably have to deal with something like that later regardless."

With that said, though, the young woman soon turned towards Rayne and scratched the back of her head.

"Well, once we've finished up here, of course. If you want to tag along, I wouldn't mind the company... Though that probably depends on how much cash you've got left after buying that thing, huh?"

Regardless of Rayne's answer, Sanae opted to simply follow after their mysterious benefactor as she left, all the while wondering what exactly was at play.

The halfling, at least, would find that the tome was at least barely within her budget; purchasing would certainly put a bit more strain on her modest savings, but if the alternative was leaving it behind, maybe that would be worth it?

---

"Geh."

An almost instinctual reaction left Sanae's lips as the hooded woman guided her (and Rayne, if she chose to follow along) towards what was undeniably a seedier section of town. Even at a glance, the signage in the area made clear that this area was meant for those who were in search of carnal pleasure, which did not in any way improve her opinion of the place. The area was cleaner than she had expected, for what little it was worth, but the young woman had no desire to start knocking on the doors of random brothels like some traveling monk to ask of what ailed them.

"Would you mind at least filling me in on the situation here? I'd rather not get caught up in anything too, uh... Shady?" Sanae asked, hoping that her response would at least some direction to start working in.

@DracoLunaris@VitaVitaAR

---

While the show of swordplay from both sides had been fairly standard (by Musashi's standards, at least), Youmu's ability to cut through the space in front of her to unleash a torrent of slashes had, admittedly, caught the pink-haired girl ever so slightly off guard. While she had expected the girl to hold some supernatural prowess, something like this was a bit further down the list of what she might have expected.

Rather than immediately moving to parry the attacks, though, Musashi quickly shifted her stance to one of 'emptiness'. There was no guard, no intent to slash out and furiously cut down anything in her way. For a brief moment, her body was relaxed and showed no sign of even attempting to match the incoming strikes blow for blow.

But then, the samurai simply disappeared. For a brief moment, Musashi's form could not be seen in the midst of that cage of cuts and slashes; instead, all that would be audible would be shining afterimages and the sound of steel clashing against the attacks that once bore down upon her. Once the assault had ended, however, Musashi would reappear in the middle, seemingly none the worse for wear.

"Pretty fancy trick you have there," Musashi finally responded, the grin on her face having never left it as she took a step back. "Should I get serious, too?"

Just as the magical energy around her seemed flared up to the point where it was all but visible to the naked eye, though, the sound of clanking steel boots from all sides seemed to bear down upon the pair.

"Stop!" called out one of the people that had approached the pair. "For public endangerment and disturbance of the peace, you two are under arrest! Lay down your weapons and come with us!"

"Oh, I guess we're going to have to cut this one short, huh?" the pink-haired girl sighed before glancing off towards where their two companions were standing by. "I'll catch up with you later, then!"

Quickly sheathing her two blades, Musashi gave Youmu a quick wink and a brief wave before leaping onto the roof of a nearby building and sprinting off.

Needless to say, this left Youmu in the middle of an encirclement of guards, none of whom seemed too pleased with how the situation had panned out.

This wasn't to say that the smaller girl was any more pleased with the situation; if anything, she seemed to be the most irritated out of all of them. It was quite unfortunate that the white-haired girl had no further information on any of this, but confirming at least some of her suspicions would have meant that this was time well spent. What was not great, however, was the fact that Musashi had not only caused a bunch of guards to gather here, but also very "subtly" thrown a message towards them before promptly making a run for it.

"Of all the stupid..." the girl sighed, shaking her head as she brought one hand towards her forehead. "I'd rather not be detained, but I would be a fool to think that I could slip into a crowd when we stand out so much... Or, at the very least, that you would be able to. I'm going to follow after her; for better or worse, she's technically my responsiblity at this point. What you and your companion do from here is none of my concern."

With that, the small girl began to walk in the general direction of where the pink-haired swordswoman had fled towards. How she could tell where she was headed despite the girl having left their immediate field of vision, though, was a question all it's own.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

---

After having been introduced by the minister in front of her, Serena finally finished dusting herself off and promptly returned the trio's greeting with one of her own.

"Ahem... My apologies for the rather unsightly display. As Mr. Halmir has said, my name is Serena ei Verzhe, but please, feel free to call me Serena," the young woman replied before bowing towards the group. "I've never been one for formalities, after all. If you'll give me a moment, though, I need to... Erm... Air out this room before we proceed. One moment."

With the smoke from whatever had happened inside having partially dissipated from opening the door to the room, Serena took a deep breath and promptly moved back inside; a glance through would reveal that it seemed to be in fairly pristine condition, save for whatever odd apparatus was churning away in the center. The young woman swiftly crossed through the room and promptly threw open the windows on the other side before grabbing a small wand crafted of wood and metal off to the side. With a single motion, the tip of the wand lit up, and a sudden gust of wind promptly funneled whatever smoke was left inside out through the window.

"There, that should do it," Serena said before beckoning the others inside. "Please, take a seat. If it's simple analysis, I can handle everything right here."

Given how nonchalant the princess seemed to be about the whole affair, it seemed reasonable to think that nothing would go wrong... Well, besides the fact that she still hadn't been the one who Bren had intended to help with this matter, but that was a different problem in it's own right.

Once the group entered and took their places, Serena wasted no time in placing her focus upon Anne's mechanical arm. It was, needless to say, utterly foreign as a concept to her to recreate a limb with metal and... Whatever else it was that made it up. Even with the basic questions and demonstrations of the degree to which Anne was able to control the prosthetic like it was no different from her own hand were worthy of her attention—never mind the magic detection spell that was thus promptly cast over it to reveal no mana within whatsoever.

"...Well, I can confidently state that there isn't magic at play with this marvel of engineering, though the craftsmanship you would need to make something like this may as well be," Serena finally said, before placing her wand to the side. "My brother would probably go insane if he saw something like this—which is tempting in it's own right—but I'd rather not cause a fuss over it. Heavens know that if he saw it he'd stop at nothing to try and replicate it... Or worse."

There was a bit of disdain in her voice as she spoke, but Serena wasted no time lingering on the matter.

"Right. Well, I can certainly guarantee that there's no nation on the continent capable of making something like this, magically or not; otherwise, I have a pretty good feeling we'd already be fighting for our lives. If you can make something this small and fine without needing to use any magic to power it, then I'd be terrified to imagine what you could do with something larger," the mage added before finally taking a seat of her own. "So, to review the situation thus far... These three—and their companions—were caught up in an incident with teleportation magic and ended up in the town of Aventon, where they repelled an invasion from the Raven Heralds and later traveled here to warn us of... Some sort of threat to the capital?"

"That is correct, ma'am," Bren responded with a nod. "I've sent out some people to verify their story already, so they should be returning in a few hours' time with a response."

"Hm. I've never been one for politics, but this certainly sounds like a national crisis in the making if that's true," Serena stated before glancing back towards the trio. "At the very least, I'd think that Father would be willing to listen if it's a definite crisis like a brewing war on the horizon. That being said, I'm worried about how long it'd take to confirm everything in time, never mind this vague threat of something at the capital. How long do you all plan on staying here in Nieve? I can't guarantee anything on my end yet, but it would be convenient if, assuming your story is true, that you could remain here until things have been sorted out."

@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

@FujiwaraPhoenix @Drifting Pollen @Rezod92

Ehen~ A satisfied huff left the youkai's lips the moment Anne and Fran introduced themselves as her retinues, and judging from how genuine said huff sounded, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume Remilia - either ignorantly or deliberately - disregarded the pretending aspect of their gesture. "Of course, Your Highness~" Now with her mood lifted, the vampiress was noticeably more patient as she waited for the princess to do a little house cleaning of the workshop, then entered along with the others upon her signal.

With a perpetual small smile on her visage, Remilia took a seat and observed the sheer fascination in Serena when she laid eyes upon Anne's curious arm. Indeed, twas' something that not even the Kappa Engineer could craft, at least not without guidance, those folks were nothing but ingenious after all. Regardless, the Knight's artificial limb was proof enough to vouch for the rest of their story, then the ambassador could essentially repeat what they had said to him for the princess' benefit.

Oh my, what's this? Attendance with the King?

Ah... finally, really it shouldn't take them this long to see the monarch, but she wouldn't be petty and reject the boon, this one most especially of all.

And last but certainly not least, proper accommodations as befitting her noble station!

"We can certainly stay for however long as you'd like, Your Highness!" The vampiress flashed a fanged grin, the thought of gourmet food, fine wine, and a proper warm bath spurring her into action, "And all of us are capable warriors in our own right, so it'll certainly be in our mutual best interest if we remain here and ready to act against these assailants." It’d be wise, indeed~

So her opponent deflected Cherry Blossom Flashing just like that?

Really, it was only to be expected. But the fact she had to respond to it purely defensively meant that Youmu was making progress.

A smile crossed the Half-Phantom's lips.

Getting serious, then? So far, she'd only showed off a few of her techniques.

If her opponent was getting serious---

"In that case, I'll just have to get serious as well."

It was only to be expected from the legendary Miyamoto Musashi, even if she came from another world.

With a faint hiss, spiritual power flowed along Youmu's limbs, passing from her body and across the edges of Roukanken and Hakurouken.

She'd slash through the space between herself and her opponent, through hesitation, confusion, and anything else in the way of her victory. A sparring match shouldn't just be taken lightly, so she was going to give it her all and---

"Eh?"

Wait, her opponent was just leaving!? The Legendary Miyamoto Musashi was sheathing her blades and turning tail? Where did all these people come from, for that matter?!

The audience for their duel had kept their distance, which only made sense. No-one wanted to be caught up in a duel at home, either, but quite a few people enjoyed watching them.

Youmu couldn't help but be incensed at her opponent's sudden departure. Their match had just been about to swing into full gear. A demonstration of the skills passed down through her family line, versus those of a legendary samurai whose impact was felt throughout the world of martial arts.

But now she was just running off?

"But... but what about our match?"

Youmu's shoulders sagged. She couldn't help but be deflated, her phantom half drooping in the air too.

---Aside from that, though, what was with all these people? They were some sort of town guard, that was certain, but why were they interfering? This might be a different world, but a friendly duel wasn't anything violating the law, was it? It certainly wouldn't have been back home in Gensokyo.

"I'm not handing over Roukanken or Hakurouken," Youmu protested, a frown crossing her features as she narrowed her grey eyes, "If you really want me to, I can re-lay the cobblestones, but I was only engaging in a friendly duel."

Laying stone was something easy enough, given her experience as a gardener, but that clearly wasn't the only thing they were angry about.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze

---

The priestess's eyes widened for a moment on the mention of Lavielle.

After a pause, she let out a sigh.

"Lavielle isn't enshrined here. I don't know of any church that is a place of her worship," she replied with a frown, "If that's what you're looking for, you're only going to find ruins."

She seemed to consider her next words for a moment, before continuing.

"You really must be from far away. While I can't say I'm fond of Lavielle's worship, there's no prohibition against it. She is a goddess, however diminished and distant she might be. Personally, I would instead recommend offering a prayer to Valitys, but if you really wish to seek out Lavielle then you may be able to find a shrine with the merchants."

Her gaze drifted to the small, silent girl.

"As for the fae girl, it's not that only another fae could assist her," she continued, "The fae don't experience disease or aging. They can be killed by violence, but their bodies aren't composed of the same sort of matter as we are. Since I don't see any injuries, if anything is wrong with her... it's likely something spiritual, or something weighing upon her mind. In the former case, a mage might be able to help her. In the latter---"

She hesitated for a moment.

"I can't say for certain. Despite her looks, she's probably older than any of us here, but the minds of fae are difficult to understand."

@Lugubrious

“Aw, that’s a shame” Rayne replied to the comment about the nail polish not being purchasable.

Not that she could have afforded to get some even if it had been on sale. Their belts were looking pretty tight, given that neither she nor Sanae were particularly confident anyone else was doing better off than they were, and that settling down and getting a steady job to make ends meet would be fairly disruptive to the whole getting home thing.

She had some skills that others might describe as peasant-y in nature, and attempting to monetize her Link given powers was both not a thing she had considered (and, one that, now that she did, just felt wrong) so any job she did get wouldn’t exactly rake in the funds needed to feed, house, etc. a whole group of people.

Still, looking at the rather empty looking coin purse she ended up with after getting the book (it wasn’t like she could just read it all in the store after all, let alone remember the contents) she might have to bend her principles a bit. Just a bit though. Flying about delivering parcels through above the busy streets maybe?

At any rate, whatever they were going to do about funds probably needed to be a group project rather than something she could solve on her own, so she naturally agreed to tag along with the other two ladies as they went to investigate this curse.

She wondered if this was anything to do with why the goddess wanted them in the capital or not.

For once—for once in her life, thank goodness—the whole ordeal turned out to be much easier than Anne had expected. Compared to the painful and invasive procedures she’d grown used to after her full-body modification, Serena’s ‘tests’ were a complete cakewalk, barely more than a cursory once-over. In fact, the Princess was nothing but calm and reasonable the entire time, which quickly dispelled any lingering doubts left by Anne’s first impression of the woman.

The Knight remained calm and cooperative while her prosthetic was studied, though she carefully avoided any mention of the military-grade strike system and various secret weapons folded away inside its intricate design. There was no need to spook the young royal any more than she rightfully had been by the revelation before her eyes.

“…Terrifying.” Anne didn’t elaborate any further, but it was clear from her tone that she agreed with Serena’s impressions. If the Princess hadn’t already been confident in what she’d deduced, the hollowness in the Knight’s green gaze would serve as confirmation enough. Don’t pry any further. You don’t want to know. Perhaps, clever as she was, Serena thought she could imagine the full potential of what she’d seen. Anne had thought so too, once, before the light of a dozen systems’ worth of planet-killing warheads had been reflected simultaneously in her eyes.

Horrors like that didn’t belong in any universe, least of all one so peaceful as this.

That knowledge only made the risks of Anne’s approach stand out all the more starkly in her mind. Based on what she knew of its capabilities, this kingdom wouldn’t be able to replicate any of the technology in her prosthetic or her coat—but that was discounting the field of magic, which she still knew so little about. If the wrong person managed to reproduce even a fraction of their functionality, it could completely upend the balance of power on this continent… And even if they couldn’t, the mere possibility would surely be enticing to some. In this bustling city, with its high walls and watchful guards, Anne would need to tread more carefully than ever before.

In the meantime, she intended to make full use of her new connection. “Lady Remilia is right, of course,” the Knight began as she got to her feet. “We’ll need to stay here long enough to help deal with the threat we’ve been warning you about. However… I made a promise back in Aventon that we would protect the people there. If we end up in Nieve for some time, I’m worried about what might happen to the town.” She lowered her head. “While of course I won’t abandon the capital either, it would do a lot for my peace of mind if you could see to Aventon’s protection.”

@Izurich@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rezod92

---

"Mmm?"

The Red Light District was certainly... something. Indeed, it was kept clean, and the shining, expensive buildings and large windows displaying brief glimpses of what was inside behind thick curtains spoke of a great deal of money and upkeep rather then squalor. But the dubious air of the entire district couldn't be ignored.

Perhaps these things were just what should be expected.

"I suppose I'm not surprised that you're not excited to be here," Qing'e said, her lips curling into a small smirk, "A maiden such as yourself lusting for a night out in a Red Light District would be quite the shock indeed. I expect you keep your less-then-appropriate desires locked away inside your mind."

Her unseen gaze drifted, now settling on the Knight-Witch.

"And you... have the air of a married woman, so I can't imagine you've been to a place such as this. At least, not for quite some time, if ever. Still---"

She gestured to a group of finely-dressed young women as they passed.

"No matter how this place might appear lavish and decadent, there's not many people who can protect the ones who work here. And they're suffering, even if it doesn't look like it."

She paused a moment, catching sight of an overweight middle-aged man in flashy clothing whose eyes were lingering on Sanae rather closely.

If someone were looking closely at Qing'e, they might have noticed her hand twitch.

If they were looking at the man, they might have noticed him suddenly looking down as something tugged his pantleg.

They might have noticed the brief look of horror on his face, eyes bulging in their sockets and a cry escaping his throat, as he saw something down at his feet. He stumbled back, slipping, and fell heavily onto his backside.

But no-one passing by seemed to spare it much thought, and it was difficult to see what was there.

Qing'e continued to lead the way.

"Ahead is a brothel that was thriving, and from my understanding cared quite well for its workers. But customers and courtesans alike suddenly started to fall ill, becoming drained and exhausted. When a customer died, his body shriveling up like rotten fruit, it shut down, and everyone fled. But this strange illness and exhaustion has started to creep into the surrounding buildings. If this keeps persisting, more people will die."

@FujiwaraPhoenix@DracoLunaris

Upon posing his questions, Lewa's regret was as immediate as it was potent. A simple 'no' would have been unfortunate enough, but the priestess's body language conveyed how off-base the toa's request was even before she let loose the bad news. As it turned out, he would just fail to find Lavielle here, but anywhere. His new acquaintance made the goddess sound like a discarded, long-forgotten relic, a being much farther from the minds of the people than the slumbering Mata Nui. But how could that be, when it was her power that bridged the unfathomable gap between worlds and drew him forth to this place only a few days ago? Was this priestess wrong? Or were the people of Aventon? As Lewa reeled, dizzied by the sheer distance that had opened up between himself and his goal, the priestess tried to offer him some comfort in the form of a couple vague possibilities, but they fell on deaf ears. What was he going to do?

Soon the woman's attention returned to the young fae, and Lewa followed suit. He half-heard her explanation about the unique characteristics of the fae, placing this girl's well-being totally beyond the realm of human understanding. Well, none of it really mattered. He hadn't wanted to attend to her in the first place, and as the toa's helplessness mounted, his motivation dwindled. Lewa stared down at the girl listlessly, though of course she didn't meet his gaze, and seriously considered dropping her on the spot. If he couldn't get back home, and everything he loved was doomed to agonizing dissolution in the acid of the Lehvak horde, what point was there in any of this?

After a long moment, Lewa squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. That was a bad line of thinking, both for himself and everyone around him. Even if this girl had been unceremoniously dumped on him, an impossible and unsolvable burden, she didn't deserve to be left alone and vulnerable. The toa beat back the depressive thoughts, trying to center himself. He might not be able to save Le-koro, and his strength paled in comparison to the other otherworlders, but if he could save even one innocent life, he was still a hero. "A merchant shrine...a mage," he muttered, considering the recommendation of the priestess. A mage might be able to help her. "I know a mage," Lewa told himself. If he found Rayne, maybe she could do something for this girl. And even if she couldn't, Lewa couldn't stand being by himself anymore. He needed a teammate to work with, someone to lead and direct him, in order to shake off the bad thoughts that gnawed at him.

The spirit of air patted the fae girl's head gently, then turned to go and begin his search anew, his pace as brisk as the wind.

@FujiwaraPhoenix @Izurich @Drifting Pollen

"We can certainly stay for however long as you'd like, Your Highness! And all of us are capable warriors in our own right, so it'll certainly be in our mutual best interest if we remain here and ready to act against these assailants."

“Lady Remilia is right, of course. We’ll need to stay here long enough to help deal with the threat we’ve been warning you about. However… I made a promise back in Aventon that we would protect the people there. If we end up in Nieve for some time, I’m worried about what might happen to the town. While of course I won’t abandon the capital either, it would do a lot for my peace of mind if you could see to Aventon’s protection.”

"Uh. Uh!", Fran muttered in agreement, concurring with her companions with a nod of her head.

Sanae was hard-pressed to hide the slight blush that crossed her face at their benefactor's comments, both due to the situation at hand and the fleeting images that passed through her mind before she could shoo them away.

"I'd rather not engage in any of that talk," the green-haired girl replied with a slight glare. "We're here to solve a problem, and I'd prefer that we keep it at that."

Regardless of her feelings on the matter (or the oddity of someone screaming in an alleyway nearby), Sanae continued following behind Qing'e in silence. The rough overview of the situation she had provided en route to their final destination—wherever that happened to be—certainly sounded like a curse of some sort to her, at least. Coupled with where they were and how unlikely the residents here would be to have someone look into the matter, the whole situation had to at least be curse-adjacent.

Eventually, though, Sanae began to feel a stifling presence bearing down upon her. As the trio continued pressing forward, that presence—whose malicious weight she seemed to feel far more than her peers—only grew stronger and stronger. When the woman leading the way finally stopped in front of an abandoned brothel, whose appearance seemed pristine, though, that presence was suffocating.

"This is bad news..." she complained as she whipped out her gohei. "You said that this place is abandoned, right? I'm not as trigger-happy as some of the people I know, but something like this..."

@DracoLunaris@VitaVitaAR

---

"Friendly duel?" the guard responded, apparently shocked that Youmu had even suggested that such a thing wouldn't warrant a response from them. "Miss, we have multiple people here claiming that the two of you were swinging at each other with enough strength to break stone—and by the looks of things, that seems to have been the case. If you're swinging your weapons around with that much force, then you were very much putting lives at risk here. Now, just hand over your swords and come with us, or we'll have to take you in by force. You've cause enough problems here as-is."

Any further attempts to dissuade the guards would be met with equally hard-headed resistance to the idea, especially considering the situation at hand. As for whether or not to cede the argument or abandon it outright would be a decision left to the swordswoman that had been left 'holding the bag', so to speak.

It would explain why Musashi had fled at the first sign of interference, at least.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

---

With the three travelers having made clear their intention to stay, Serena nodded her head and returned their statement with a smile—though it seemed to be one more practiced than genuine if one attempted to examine the tiniest hints of her facade.

"Well, we'll see in due time as to whether or not Father decides to take action," she responded, "but your aid is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, however, I don't believe that it would be fair to simply provide any favoritism towards you and yours, regardless of what your intent might be. Please understand that despite my title, I don't actually hold that much power..."

There was a brief pause as Serena's words hung in the air, but the slightest hint of a grin on her face immediately gave the minister at her side cause for concern.

"At least, that would be the case if we spoke with regards to charity. I do not know of your circumstances with that merchant caravan you claim to have arrived with, but if you would be willing to aid me as assistants I might be able to figure something out."

"Princess, I do believe that is called embezzlement—"

"I'm not embezzling anything! I'd be giving them legitimate tasks and paying them accordingly!" Serena responded indignantly before turning back towards the group of girls in front of her. "Ahem. Well, there you have it, then. Of course, you're free to refuse; I'm not crazy enough to strongarm you into helping, and I won't make you do anything too crazy... Probably. So how about it?"

@Izurich@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

@Drifting Pollen @Rezod92 @FujiwaraPhoenix

"Oh, them? Though I can empathize with your concern, I wouldn't really worry about them," Remilia grinned confidently in response to Anne's apprehension about the Aventonians, "After all, some of us abductees stayed there, they aren't completely defenseless." It was quite the logical outlook if she could say so herself, quite difficult to dispute. Now that the matter was settled (at least in the vampiress' mind), the youkai couldn't wait to be invited into the castle and enjoy every amenity it had to offer!

Really, Remilia couldn't care less if the princess' agreement lied more on being diplomatic rather than genuinely trusting them, those threats would come whether she liked it or not and to properly face them, they'd need assistance, and these assistants should be given the proper accommodations. As such, anything that'd get in the way of this endeavor should be vanquished with extreme prejudice!

"Indeed, Her Highness speaks wisdom, Ambassador, fufufu~" The Scarlet Devil chortled under the veil of elegance, but a keen eye might be able to notice the impatience lurking underneath, "Yes, we accept with great honors! Now, shall we depart to the castle at once?"

---

... But why?

This doesn't make any sense.

It's no worse then clashes I've seen and participated in back in Gensokyo, in the human village. No bystanders were going to be hurt. I understand this is another world. I'm not stupid, and it's not like it's some sort of overly-complicated explanation for our current situation.

It's something as straightforward as just another world existing.

Why is it a problem if we dueled here, as long as no-one else was caught up in it? That match had only approached the more intense bouts in Gensokyo towards the end.

---Unfortunately, with the damage to my phantom half, I'm not sure it could have escalated into the sort of duel I'd wanted to show someone as legendary as Miyamoto Musashi, but I was still going to give it my all.

But now, she's run away, and the town's guards are trying to take away my swords and take me with them.

Roukanken and Hakurouken are family heirlooms. I have absolutely no intention of handing them over. How shameful would it be for a Konpaku to do such a thing?

I wouldn't be able to look Yuyuko-sama in the eye, no matter what she said, if I let myself be disarmed so easily.

"I won't hand over my swords."

I fix my eyes firmly on the one who appears to be their leader, at least judging by how he's done most of the talking.

"If you want to take them from me, you'll have to do it yourselves. I already offered to fix the cobblestones."

That was the only damage our duel caused. I'm a gardener on top of my other duties, so it's precisely the sort of thing I can manage even if it's not exactly the same as laying out a stone path.

If that's not enough for them, then there's nothing more I'm going to offer. Not after they insisted on trying to take Roukanken and Hakurouken.

"Since that's not enough for you, I'm leaving."

I leave the ground, the air whipping past me as I ascend to the top of a nearby building. There's not much reason to deal with them any longer. If they tried to take my swords by force, I'd have to slash them all, and despite what I said to them I'm not particularly interested in even non-lethally harming this town's guards.

Still, I don't get what made them so angry in the first place.

I take another step and gently step off the rooftop on the other side of the building, descending to the street below.

I'll just leave them behind.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze

So it all came down to quid pro quo in the end? That wasn't exactly unexpected, but... Anne let out a quiet sigh, rubbing at her temple in frustration. She had important objectives here, couldn't they see that? The last thing she needed was to get caught up serving some second-rate royal's machinations, especially if it might bring her into conflict with other political factions in the capital.

On the other hand... Her whole group was low on money, without stable accommodations, and completely unknown to the people here. Getting paid, forging connections, and building up trust and support might well be exactly the first steps they needed to accomplish their greater goals. Surely the rest of her companions knew this as well, and would be working hard to make good first impressions. She couldn't imagine how much trouble it'd be if they ended up branded as criminal elements or something like that... Actually, she was getting a bad feeling now, so maybe she shouldn't think about it too much.

"It's a fair offer, though if we're being legitimately hired then I'd prefer an agreement in writing." She turned briefly to the Berserker. "You're okay with it too, Fran?" It was one thing to accept the Princess's tasks, but Anne would likely need some extra muscle when it came to seeing them through.

"Also," she went on, turning her attention back to the others once Fran had given her answer, "before we go anywhere or get sent off on any errands, I have something else you might be interested in, Serena." From her black coat, she pulled out the small box she'd been given back in the cave outside Aventon. "You're an expert in magic, right? I got these off one of the Raven Herald commanders, but I haven't been able to identify their functions up until now." The container popped open, the emblem, jewel, and vial still nestled safely within. Anne wasn't sure if they had any true value, but the Princess seemed better-equipped than anyone she'd met to give her some clear answers on the matter.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@VitaVitaAR@Rezod92

Well, it looked like the entertainment was over... and she ought to get going too, unless she wanted to be left entirely alone in this city. Now, that didn't seem like entirely a bad thing... but then she might end up stuck on her own in this place for good. And that would be annoying; how could she continue fighting Kaguya if trapped in another world for centuries or longer?

Had they even arranged somewhere to meet up in general...? Well, another reason to find the half-ghost. She didn't want to have the guards after her as well for displaying some of the same abilities, so Mokou exited around the corrner, following after the blonde girl, and only then took to the air.

Not high enough to be above the streets, but above anyone's heads. Whether she found the alchemist first or the gardener, then she'd land beside them. After all, if she found the alchemist, she'd probably find the swordsman in the end, and if she knew anything about swordsmen, they'd want to meet up again to finish their duel.

And it was better than trying to navigate this maze of a city with no destination. This place had definitely not been planned out.

Hurrying along to keep up with the gait of the two taller women, Rayne didn’t really have a lot of time to, well, check out the local nightlife as it were.

She also didn’t dain to comment on whether she’d been to a place like this or not when teased about it, but she didn’t get embarrassed by the prodding either. She wasn’t exactly a chaste maiden or some sort of prude. However, if her world’s last settlement had had anyone practicing the world's oldest profession, she certainly wouldn't have been aware of it.

She hadn’t exactly been left wanting.

Aaaaand now she missed Akai again, and for much less wholesome reasons than the usual bouts of longing and homesickness.

She tilted her hat down to hide the mix of sorrow and… other feelings crossing her face, and tried to put those memories out of her mind and focus on the here and now. She then made a sound of agreement in response to Sana’s insistence they stick to the task at hand, even if it was for different reasons.

That said, she wasn’t really an expert in dealing with curses. Or even an amature. Which meant she was worrying about how she’d actually be able to help right up until Sanae drew her weapon as they stood before the abandoned structure.

“Mmm, better to be safe than sorry when going to an abandoned spooky building” She agreed, as she floated a foot into the air, flicking her left hand as she did so. Before it, the arrow-like glyph she used to fire her magic bullets formed, while in it three shimmering cards where drawn from her spell deck.

“Garbage collector, Cloud of darkness, Lightning” she said, informing Sana of her hand, the content of her spell deck having come up during one of the long empty days of traveling “probably don’t want to use the last one while we are indoors, but if there's lots of, I dunno, nasty creepy bugs or something first two will work out just fine”

That said, her magical might wasn’t going to help if the curse turned out to be black mold or something more mundane, and so, just in case, she also improvised a face mask out of a small towel “in case there’s stuff we don’t want to breath in in there”

---

"You're right, of course, forgive me," Qing'e replied, inclining her head apologetically, "I'm simply used to poking at interesting things, and the both of you do seem rather interesting."

The hooded woman's gaze returned to the building. Indeed, like most of the higher-class buildings in the district, it seemed quite extravagant, with bright reds and blues adorning it and a rather flashy sign advertising it to be 'The Wandering Cat'.

It couldn't have been abandoned for very long, and yet the building seemed almost totally silent.

Somehow, though, it didn't seem empty.

Certainly there was no-one visible entering or exiting it, nor any sounds of life.

But there was something there.

Something that, to Sanae in particular, would feel like an extraordinarily heavy presence. A pitch-black miasma that could almost be felt tangibly by the arahitogami, almost smelled.

Like something burning.

Whatever was lurking in the abandoned brothel was something that could nearly be felt even by those with no spiritual sense at all.

"I knew you would feel it," Qing'e commented, glancing towards Sanae, and then Rayne as well, "And you might be able to pick up on it soon as well."

Her gaze drifted towards the building's entrance as she approached it.

"Whatever's lurking here is the root of the curse that's been draining away the life of the people who came here. Quite simply, if this goes any further, it may not just be this district in danger. The people who work here don't deserve this suffering, but it might not end with them."

Slowly, she opened the door.

Within was some form of lobby, having been abandoned in a considerable rush. The candles and lamps lighting the building had long since gone out, but Qing'e had a way to rectify the lack of visibility.

Raising her right hand, the hooded woman conjured what appeared to be a spherical blue light, and beckoned the others to follow her.

"The sooner we find the source of the curse, the sooner it can be cleansed."

As the trio entered, it was possible that Sanae or Rayne might glimpse something strange, ahead, in a hall leading deeper into the building.

The fluttering wings of a golden butterfly.

Then another.

And another---

@FujiwaraPhoenix@DracoLunaris