[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Nieve — Red Light District[/h3][/center]

While being surrounded by butterflies of death wasn't a particularly novel experience to her at this point, the sheer density of them as they came pouring out into the hallways in front of them did not leave Sanae feeling any more comfortable about the situation. Being in the Netherworld was one thing, but there was a level of malice at play here that the shrine maiden had never once felt in her past encounters with the nearest possible equivalent force in Gensokyo.

Her recognition of what Qing'e had chosen to throw to the proverbial dogs in front of the three of them quickly confirmed her suspicions about the insects, and that her decision to shoot them on-sight had been correct. Unfortunately, that didn't really matter as much when there were [i]so many[/i] blocking the way.

Of course, when they began to pass through the [i]walls[/i] to get to them, things only went from 'bad' to 'worse'. Rayne, at least, was more than prepared to start firing now that the butterflies had demonstrated their ability to both drain them dry and pass through walls as if they didn't exist. All the better, then to start moving once the way was cleared...

Or so Sanae had hoped to do, had the butterflies, seemingly unfazed by the swathes of them that had just been destroyed, simply continued to fly through the walls towards them. If there was any time to try and get moving, though, it was [i]now[/i], before her companion's homing shots stopped being able to clean up the opposition before they even got close.

"Ah, what a pain! Rayne, I'm going to make the call here to just break through! Keep your feet off the ground and shoot at anything that moves... Excluding us, of course!" the green-haired girl called out as she floated ever so slightly off the ground before flying through the path that the halfling had carved through for them. With her gohei at the ready, Sanae began to fire clusters of frog-shaped bullets towards the floor and the walls, leaving them ready to blow up the second that they encountered even the slightest hostility.

The problem [i]now[/i] was to track down the source of this curse... Which, in all honesty, really just meant that she had to find where the suffocating feeling was getting worse and just follow that until they found something interesting. Nothing too unusual.

[@DracoLunaris][@VitaVitaAR]

[hr][center][h3]Nieve — Odd Cemetery[/h3][/center]

The monk gave the pair of girls approaching him a half-hearted shrug as he took a step back, almost as if he was trying to make a little bit more distance between them—as one would have expected from someone who seemed to be a summoner to begin with.

"Believe me, your guess would be as good as mine," he replied to the one approaching him at a slightly more measured pace than her companion. "But the fact that I'm alive now means more than that—and I'd like to keep it that way."

Rather than engage in further conversation—at least, for the moment—the man seemed to be spending more effort in attempting to gauge the opponent. The short-haired girl looked to be a more immediate threat, if only because she seemed to be more focused on taking him out of the picture immediately. The other's apparent disregard for her own safety, coupled with the fact that even the slightest injuries were being healed as they were made, however, meant that he couldn't just [i]discount[/i] her from the equation entirely.

"...Hm...?"

A curious expression briefly passed over the monk's face for a moment as he seemed to consider something, but that was quickly replaced by a slight smirk as he turned his focus towards the swordswoman barreling towards him. With but a little time afforded to him thanks to the summoning of a [i]certain[/i] being to occupy the other one, the sly-faced man figured now was a good a time as any to try and deal with his opponent while he could. It wasn't the first time in recent memory he had to deal with a swordfighter, after all.

A strange worm-like spirit soon materialized upon the monk's shoulders, and from it's mouth he slowly withdrew a three-section staff dyed in red. With a weapon now in hand, the monk quickly adopted a combat stance and readied himself to fight.

The strange white spirit following the girl around did seem to pique his interest, though, insofar as he seemed to be treating it as something to be aware of throughout the fight instead of simply as an odd accessory.

While the monk had moved to engage Youmu in combat, however, Mokou would soon find the area around her strangely [i]bereft[/i] of enemies... Or anyone else, for that matter, The area around her would seem dark, but the voice of [i]something[/i] calling out to her from the darkness would let her know that she [i]certainly[/i] wasn't along.

"[i]Hey.[/i]"

A brief glance towards the source would reveal an emaciated feminine figure garbed in a long overcoat, whose numerous eyes peeking out through long, black, unkempt hair paired with a medical mask to cover her face might have brought to mind another familiar face... Though not quite in the same way as the other residents of Gensokyo had.

"[i]Am... 
		Am... 
	Am I... 
			Pretty?[/i]"

[@VitaVitaAR][@Raineh Daze]
[hr][center][h3]Nieve — Mages' Guild[/h3][/center]

"Well, to be quite frank, letting strangers into the royal castle on a whim is more than a simply national security risk, regardless of their station. Even I am not so foolish so as to let guests in without having them vetted, after all; my life might not be worth much compared to my father's, but I had intended your earlier comment as a simple jest. Unless you truly did mean to do something that might pose a risk to the people who lead this country...?"

While there was a bit of frivolity in her voice, the undertones running through what the mage had said were difficult to ignore. Under the assumption that Anne had Remilia's selfish desires under control soon thereafter, though, Serena gave the glasses-wearing woman another nod and let the facade she had been putting up for the moment slide for the moment by ever-so-subtly laughing at the plain irritation upon the woman's face.

"Of course, I'm not mad enough to try and rope you all into political struggles—though some part of me feels like you'd find them falling into your lap regardless. More likely than not, I'd have you retrieving goods for me from somewhere or another, or maybe just gathering samples. For example, there's been an odd illness that's begun to—"

"Princess, I've returned with the paperwork you requested."

With that, Serena found her statement cut off by the minister she had sent to retrieve the paperwork she had requested, and after reviewing the contents and handing them off to Anne to sign, simply waited for her to check them herself. It was, as she had said, a simple contract that emphasized only what needed to be done while in her employ.

"By the way, Miss Mayer, you mentioned that you had a golem among your companions?" Bren asked before glancing towards the nearby window. "Would they happen to be accompanied by a rather frail-looking blonde child? I believe I saw one wandering the streets outside earlier looking for something..."

[@VitaVitaAR][@Drifting Pollen][@Rezod92][@Lugubrious]