Honestly, she'd been getting out of her depth here… sure, there was something up with the orb, but that was almost a given when it came to anything from Gensokyo, and taoism wasn't anything she knew in detail. Maybe, to some degree, she had experience with working out what any given item might be used for from a danmaku perspective, but that was just exposure to Kaguya speaking. The obvious thing to do was just to touch it.

What was the worst that could happen?

Before Mokou could reach out and presumably find a new and exciting way to get herself injured, the hermit responsible for this place came back… and the jiang shi. The downside was that… ah, the half-ghost was going to jump to the fighting. Not a bad idea, fighting first and asking questions later was just how you got things done. But maybe they could avoid that? This room wasn't huge, and things still ached from being cut apart earlier.

The easiest way to delay her was to just get in the way. She might attack anyway, since Mokou would be fine in the long run, but maybe it would work?

"Looking for you. You two make six of us from Gensokyo."

And the hermit was the first one that might have some idea about getting back, or at least communicating.

Given her experience in dealing with the jiangshi that was struggling to do much of anything in the past, Sanae wasn't quite sure what to expect from whatever was waiting for them inside of Seiga's new base of operations. Sure, Yoshika was... Well, she wouldn't say strong, per se, but she was problematic in her own right in a proper fight. Granted, there weren't any divine spirits lingering around for her to heal off of here as far as she could tell, but that had been more of a one-time thing anyway.

Regardless, it felt like a bit more of an obligation to the green-haired girl at this point to follow after the Taoist, even if she wasn't in peak fighting form. There wasn't any guarantee that whatever was waiting for them would be weak enough for Seiga alone to handle, after all.

Thankfully, the fact that the three of them could fly meant that Sanae didn't have to worry about slowly plodding down the stairs inside the mausoleum—heavens knew that would make her head spin even worse—and before long, the trio passed through into a space not all too dissimilar to what she had seen from the Divine Spirit Mausoleum back in Gensokyo. This one was smaller, of course, but it certainly did fit the bill for what she expected Seiga to be living in.

The house in it's center was, of course, their destination, and before long Seiga—with Sanae, still using Rayne's shoulder for support—floating not too far behind.

Her surprise when the 'rats' that had made their way into Seiga's home were Youmu and Mokou (and two other strangers), though, was...

Well, it was more than she was able to physically show at the moment.

"...How did you two manage to even find this place?" she asked as the two unfamiliar face in the back glanced at the newcomers a bit warily before deeming that the green-haired girl, at the very least, wasn't any sort of threat at the moment—and thus, by proxy, choosing to ignore her.

"I suppose the angry one is the homeowner, then?" the smaller girl asked with a bit of a shine in her eye. "Our timing could have been better... But I've got a bevy of questions of my own to ask about the goods here, so I don't have reason to complain."

"More than that, though... Six from one place?" the monk remarked as he brought a hand to his chin. "...Never mind the odds of that happening given what you've told me, but doesn't that mean that there might be more people from our own worlds here, too? Two or three would be astronomically coincidental odds, sure, but..."

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris

---

The decision to retreat as the cave began to collapse upon itself was swift, and as boulders began to seal off the path forward the group of would-be explorers would be able to avoid the last few parting shots from the wraiths as they barreled through any stray rocks that threatened to cut them off from both ends.

Either way, the group would at least come away from the incident fairly unscathed. Unfortunately, what they had originally come for—both the goods and the shopkeeper—were still nowhere to be seen. What Serena's response to that (never mind the explanations of what happened here) would be...

Well, they were probably not going to be particularly pleasant, but it was going to have to be something that needed to be done one way or another.

With that said, this was a good a time as any to consider how to move forward. Though the princess' request could well be considered a failure, they had come away with the information that there was something lurking far beneath their feet.

Unfortunately, this meant that their presence would be known as well; whether or not that would cause problems in the days to come remained to be seen.

@VitaVitaAR@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92@Lugubrious

Though things looked dodge for a minute, the otherworlders managed to beat a hasty retreat in one piece after all. Anne's speed, Fran's strength, and Lewa's winds saw them to safety, with Remilia on hand to undo any damage that the humans had sustained if she felt so inclined. Once the terrific din died down and the tremors subsided, the group slowed to a walk as they retraced their steps through the underground path, the caverns growing narrower as they climbed higher and closer to the basement. It took a little longer for Lewa's heartlight to stop racing, and he almost regretted it when it did. He could not say what his team managed to achieve, if anything, nor what they even came here to do, but even if just for a little while, the excitement had taken his mind off his situation. The underground expedition reminded him of the old days before the Bohrok invasion, when every day had been an adventure through some wild, beautiful corner of Mata Nui. Being so deep beneath the earth, where the sun didn't shine and the wind didn't blow, reminded him just how much he missed his island home. For now, he would have to content himself with the sun and wind of Nieve.

Along with the others he trudged out of the caves, then up back through the shop. Lewa did not particularly regret leaving this mystery unsolved; he'd simply been along for the ride, maybe since the very start. His genial, heroic nature had been put through the wringer by his extenuating circumstances, so it was hard to get invested in any errand that stood in the way of his search. He felt like the minute he started caring too much about this world, he'd be relinquishing his hold on his own, and that was something the spirit air couldn't possibly do--not as long as he clung to a sliver of hope. Still, while the lack of resolution to this side-quest didn't really bother him, the toa looked rather glum as he emerged back into the open air. Not even the caress of the breeze against his body lifted his spirits. He looked around, his eyes dull, at all the humans blissfully and ignorantly going about their lives. No doubt the question on his tongue was one on everyone's mind. "So...now what?"

“They're alive!” Rayne elated with relife, before being very confused about what went on afterwards with the sticking of the piece of paper to the confused woman’s face. There wasn’t time to ask, however, as apparently there were intruders downstairs doing.

She did however, take a moment to at least give her name to Yoshika-chan with a quick little “Hello, I’m Rayne” and a tip of her hat using the hand she wasn’t using to support Sanae.

Speaking of Sanae, and well, everyone she was with actually, turned out that downstairs were yet more people from her world, which led her to offer one simple guesstimation, which was that “Guess the goddess who kidnapped us all had a preference for it?”

With every bone in her body desiring some relaxation and maybe a hot drink to get rid of the sluggishness still clinging to her body, the green-haired shrine maiden could barely muster any sort of desire to actually fight her two traveling companions, much less on the side of the necromancer Taoist (regardless of if she had helped them or not). Those not from Gensokyo seemed more inclined towards speaking about the odd disparity in their number (if not questions in general), though, which was a line of questioning that was far less likely to result in any sort of unnecessary combat.

All the more reason to try and help push that along.

"It could be a preference, or it could be something else. Maybe it's easier to reinforce a connection than it is to establish one? That'd explain why I can summon Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama..." she trailed off before glancing towards the still-fuming Seiga.

"Enough about the who and why we're all here! Even if you were looking for me, putting my dear Yoshika-chan in that sort of situation is absolutely unforgivable!" Seiga exclaimed, only for the smallest of the four intruders to raise her hand in response.

"Ah, you can place the blame on Miss Konpaku for that one," she spoke, fully aware that she was effectively sacrificing the half-ghost swordswoman in order to wring information out of the woman. "So if you want to air your grievances about that, please do so with her. I would like to return to my earlier statement. After all, there are more than a few things here—that large black orb most of all—that don't seem to fit in with the atmosphere here. Would you mind enlightening us on why they're here to begin with?"

For what little it was worth, being able to redirect her ire towards Youmu had left Seiga at least a little less inclined towards indiscriminate danmaku, especially within the confines of her own home, and so the hermit slowly drifted towards the ground before entering her home proper.

"Hmph. As long as you're not trying to steal them for yourselves, I don't particularly mind. I have made a promise to care for Miss Kochiya until she has recovered, at least, and I can't very well do so if my house is in shambles... Though I will certainly collect my dues in time. From your mistress, perhaps," she spoke, glaring at Youmu before finally taking a seat. "In any case... Most of these goods were not made by me, nor were they stolen, per se. That orb in particular was a rather nasty piece of work. I believe it was somewhere around two li underground in... That direction? Obviously, I don't have the tools to try and break it down, and trying to do so without any sort of help would be near-suicidal, so I made the choice to simply seal it up here. The other goods were in odd underground ruins I found here and there as I was searching for a place to settle down after finding myself in this world, and they seemed valuable enough to take with me. Does that answer your questions, or do you still have more to ask?"

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris

That's---

That's not true at all! It was an idea we'd all agreed on! In the first place, it's not as if I feel particularly bad about entering Kaku Seiga's place of residence. Wasn't she stealing it from someone already? Certainly, they were already dead, but that's beside the point! It was still taking ownership of a mausoleum that didn't belong to her in the first place!

---It had been my idea to disable Miyako, but I'd specifically done it in a way that wouldn't harm her. Even if she could be mended from even the worst injuries.

I could have just cut her in half. It's not like that would have killed her, after all. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

---Putting all that aside, there's no way Yuyuko-sama would possibly agree to those conditions! Especially when it's a request from the Wicked Hermit Kaku Seiga!

"Yuyuko-sama would ne---"

Suddenly, the jiangshi has flown ahead of the others. Her talisman has been restored, and she's looking down at Fujiwara-san, Suguru-san, Carol-san, and myself.

"Stay out of the mausoleum!"

Her shout is loud enough to echo off the walls.

"..."

We're already in the mausoleum, though---

... Nevermind.

"Yuyuko-sama would never agree to that!"

I'll assert it firmly. She shouldn't even try it.

---Right?

"So you didn't create that... thing, but instead it came from beneath the city?" Carol comments, looking as if she feels nothing about asserting I was the only one at fault, "That doesn't bode particularly well... hmmm."

@DracoLunaris@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze

---

"Tch---!"

If I hadn't been weakened, that cave-in wouldn't have mattered to me at all! I would have easily broken my way through it! Damn it!

Fists tightly curled at my sides, I can feel my wings flapping lightly, unconsciously, in an expression of my irritation.

Stupid, ugly, unpleasant undead, lurking in a stupid, unstable underground passageway! Whose idea was it to go lurking in such an unsightly place, anyway!?

And if you're going to use undead, at least try and make them aesthetically pleasing!

I hope the dumb idiot who was behind this got themselves crushed. It would serve them right.

"Hmph."

I fold my arms, turning away from the others in annoyance.

"Well, since we obviously can't explore that route anymore, I suppose we'll have to return. It was a really ugly, stupid tunnel anyway."

---Not that the aesthetics necessarily mattered when it came to figuring out what happened, but still!

I don't bother waiting for the others. I'm going to lead the way back to the guild whether they're ready or not.

@Drifting Pollen@Lugubrious@Rezod92

@FujiwaraPhoenix @VitaVitaAR @Lugubrious @Drifting Pollen





"U-Uuuuh...", muttered Fran, scratching her head in thought. Remilia and Lewa had the right of it. With the caverns now inaccessible, the group had no other avenues to continue investigating what had happened here. Their main objective for coming here would go down as unsuccessful...but not absolutely so.

"Tell...prin...cess?"

Silence lingered in the air after Lewa voiced his question, making the Spirit of Air wonder if they didn't have any answers, either. Then Remilia turned away from him with a scornful snort, which left him puzzled as he wondered if he'd done something to offend her. After treating the others to a condescending reply, the vampire performed an about face and marched off. Wait, what did he do? He just didn't understand. Return? Return where? Lewa still didn't know why everyone decided to pay that particular shop a visit anyway, beyond vague conjecture about some sort of trivial errand for an unknown party. He'd just listlessly followed along, without anything better to do than hope the more powerful members of his party knew what they were doing, and it looked like Remilia expected him to blindly follow the leader again.

This time, though, Lewa did not move. His lime-green gaze rested on the boundless sky, its ephemeral clouds, and the distant horizon. Only the city's ambiance stirred the momentous silence: the barking of dogs, the clatter of hooves and wagon-wheels on cobblestones, both casual conversations and heated bargaining. Over it all, the wind whispered in his ears. It brushed against his biomechanical body, that familiar and welcome touch his only companionship in a vast and alien world where he could understand, achieve, and amount to nothing. Though stifled as it filtered through the confines of this strange city, it picked up speed as it blew toward the countryside, and Lewa could feel it at his back. Urging him onward.

After another moment, Fran went after Remilia. Lewa didn't know what 'princess' she might be referring to, and he didn't care. After all, Fran didn't care that she'd almost killed him -and squashed whatever faint hope his undefended homeland had- as collateral damage in the cave-in she caused down there in the tunnels. To people like her, Remilia, Anne, and and all the others, he was as inconsequential as a gnat. They wielded such incredible power that nothing could threaten them, and most not only came from the same world, but also could apparently still communicate with acquaintances worlds apart. They did not share Lewa's hopeless isolation, nor his urgent need to return from whence he came. This situation might be a crisis for Lewa, but to them it was an amusing diversion. He'd been saddled with the unsolvable problem of the fae child, forced to put aside his own mission, while the others ran off to pursue their own ends. Lewa had to accept that he would not make any progress as long as he trailed behind these people, bereft of purpose and agency. It was just a matter of time until he got caught in the crossfire of their extravagant powers, or accidentally ran afoul of their inexplicable moods. And time was something that his people didn't have.

Lewa took a deep breath. A few moments after Remilia and Fran got moving, the toa took his first steps in the opposite direction, and he did not look back. He could not afford to waste one more second as an accessory to these otherworlders' sideshows. His brothers and sister were out there. They needed him, and he them. So he would go and find them. So long as he followed the Great Spirit, and the whispers of the wind, Lewa knew he was never truly lost. With the wind at his back, he would not rest until he finally found his way home.

With little to show for their efforts, the group of travelers chose to make their way back to the Mages' Guild to report the results of their little trip. Though now short a member of their entourage, the trio (and the fae child still in Anne's care) had made their return without drawing too much attention to themselves.

The remnants of the rock dust scattered about on their clothing would have stood out a bit, unfortunately enough.

Once the group had entered the building, it didn't take particularly long for Serena to come down and greet them. With the requested goods missing and the traces of something having gone awry fairly evident to see on them, though, the princess seemed to take a moment to wonder what could have happened to leave them all like this.

"Complications, I presume?" she asked before beckoning the group to follow her back to the room she had been experimenting in before. "Please, fill me in on the details."

@VitaVitaAR@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

Well, now that they had averted fighting for the moment… back to the evil orb. It was certainly unfamiliar, and it oddly wasn't the first recent interaction she'd had with magic orbs, so…

"Do you know what this one does if you touch it?" Mokou wondered, pausing for just a second before asking, "If not, do you want to find out?"

They chose to run, in the end. Survival over heroism, their own safety over protecting the city at large. With a child still in her care, Anne couldn't argue that caution wasn't warranted, but she had a sinking feeling that she might regret this later. How many more empty shops would there end up being, how many more people vanished without a trace because of her delay in dealing with the enemy?

With few words exchanged, her party picked their way back through the silent shop and into the brilliant glare of the sun outside. Anne trailed after the others, her body now starting to feel the exhaustion from all the acrobatics she'd pulled off in that tunnel. Sure, she was on her feet for now, but more than anything she wanted to just rest, to lay down and sleep until some part of her wasn't sore. Only the weight of the fae child nestled in her arms kept her trudging forwards, a constant reminder of the stakes and danger still lurking just out of sight.

Remilia and Fran seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Anne herself. With the tunnel collapsed, their best bet was to contact their local allies, who'd more than likely have the resources to properly investigate the matter. The Knight was just about to raise her voice in agreement when she noticed Lewa wander off on his own, without so much as a glance thrown back at the others.

"Wait," she breathed, her voice still hoarse from exertion. Wait. Come back. We have a city full of people to save, damn it. But then what did these humans matter to a being of green-tinted metal? At the end of the day, the Toa cared more for his own distant people than for the innocents around him, the concept of empathy too difficult to extend to animals of flesh and bone. They may have fought together for a short while, but he and Anne would never see eye to eye.

With her heart weighed down slightly heavier, the Knight turned her back on her former ally and set off with those that remained. To the Guild, now, and to their benefactor, to try and make excuses for this whole mess.


Before a grumpy Remilia could pipe up with anything offensive, Anne quickly laid out the details. "We found the shop, according to your directions. But the place was empty, with signs of a struggle inside. When we investigated the basement, we found hostiles guarding a tunnel... Which we followed for some distance before it collapsed." Perhaps best to leave out the cause of said collapse, unless the Princess asked about it directly.

"I'm sorry we couldn't fulfill your minor request. But I'm sure you can understand we have something much bigger on our hands now." Though her body was still tired, a certain intensity had returned to her grey-green eyes. "The attack I warned about before—this might be it. That tunnel seemed to go on for hundreds of meters, and any force capable of excavating that well would have the means to extend a network beneath the entire city if they wanted..." She paused, not wanting to seem too much like some kind of madwoman proclaiming the end of days—even if her role wasn't all too far from that. "At the very least, I recommend quarantining the shop and examining its surroundings via magic. There's a serious threat on hand, and we could all use more information on its true extent."

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rezod92@VitaVitaAR

Seiga returned Youmu's indignant declaration with a wry smile, but ultimately chose to not give any proper response to her outcry. Whether that meant she was joking about doing so or had a plan to get Youmu to pay her back in due time was anybody's guess, and Sanae was certainly not willing to poke that hornet's nest to try and find out.

More relevant to the subject matter at hand, though, was further focus placed upon the ominous orb that had continued to grip the attention of those present. The necromancer couldn't really blame them, given how it was front and center and just screamed bad news, but it wasn't as if she could really provide much to help on that front.

If there was anyone to help find out, though, the immortal would be exactly the person to ask.

"I chose to err on the side of caution when retrieving that one and had my dear Yoshika bring it back, but she hasn't really told me anything special about it in particular," the hermit replied, lazily waving one hand in front of her. "If you wish to find out, please, be my guest. It's not as if anything can kill an immortal like you for long."

With her tacit approval provided, Mokou would thus be free to interact with the orb as she saw fit. If she chose to touch it, however, the reason behind everyone's instinctual concern around it would become quite evident. A flood of anguish and torment would flood into her from the orb—the feelings of resentment and anger of thousands of souls sealed within. The attack was purely mental in nature, but whether or not the immortal could weather the storm on her own or would need someone to pry her away would be up to her and her alone.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

---

Though it seemed as though she had already been expecting some sort of bad news, Serena's expression turned grim as Anne began to detail to them the events that had just transpired. She said nothing as the older woman spoke her piece and gave her suggestions on how to proceed. Instead, the princess sat in silence with one hand brought up to her mouth, her lips pursed as she seemed to lose herself in her thoughts.

The silence was eventually broken as Serena let out a subtle sigh and looked towards Anne.

"I suppose further investigation is in order," she said simply before quietly producing a bag of coins from a nearby drawer. "I have no reason to doubt your testimony, but revealing anything to the public about this incident would probably raise further issues. For now, please keep quiet about this matter; I'll have some guards check the issue out under some different pretenses later."

With that, Serena calmly handed the bag off to Anne before glancing at the child still in her care.

"That aside, I would recommend you all try and remove the residual curses lingering around you. It's not immediately threatening—I assume you managed to avoid being hit directly—but the traces can still be tracked for a while after they have been placed. Beyond that... You should probably go and rest for a while. It may be likely that I will need your assistance sooner than not."

@VitaVitaAR@Drifting Pollen@Rezod92

While Serena mulled over her answer, Anne was left to fret and worry away. Would the Princess buy her story? Would she pry for further details? Would she simply blame them for their failure to complete their task, regardless of the unexpected circumstances? It would be a pain to lose their main contact in the government, right after all the work they'd put into getting in her good graces...

Fortunately, this Princess turned out to be more reasonable than any royal Anne had known. The relieved Knight let out a small sigh of her own, and inclined her head as she took the proffered bag. "Thank you, Serena. We'll keep this between ourselves and our companions." Not that many people would have believed her anyway, if she'd gone running through the streets yelling about skeletons in the sewers. If their patron wanted them to hold their tongues and get some sleep, Anne was all too happy to oblige.

"Lady Remilia," she said, turning to the vampiress. "Sanae should be able to do something about curses, right? She seems pretty knowledgeable about that sort of thing." It would probably be a good idea to look for the rest of the Otherworlders anyway, in case they'd run into trouble of their own. "I think Rayne said we were supposed to meet at the 'Dancing Donkey' around nightfall. We can get rooms there, maybe a bath, and relax while we catch up with the others." Fran seemed to be holding up well enough, but the fae kid deserved rest and safety. And Remilia... Anne knew the woman well enough to tell when she was in need of some pampering.

@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rezod92@VitaVitaAR

Seizing the orb—

Well, this hadn't been a great idea, even for her, had it? Oh, it wasn't like it was doing any permanent damage, Mokou was instinctually aware of that. But the rage of thousands of souls, their resentment urging her to take it out on everyone around, then the city, then the world—

There was the faintest flicker of flame.

Ah, it was a familiar feeling. Destroy and destroy and prove that your existence still meant something, even in the face of unchanging immortality, even when all of society had long forgotten you existed. Even the urgings of vengeful spirits to go further and further on this self-destructive path… that was familiar too, wasn't it? You couldn't burn everything you saw for centuries without attracting that sort of attention from the victims. And the fire responded so readily, it would be trivial to flood the room with it. That would start a fight with everyone, but this was what she lived for.

Yet… she'd been here before. Mokou knew where this path lead; she'd die a thousand times or more until… she'd just get tired. No closer to death, and with nothing in her unchanging life to show for it. No matter what the vengeful dead wanted, there would be no satisfaction to be found, and while they had numbers, she had both experience and familiarity with it. What was the anguish of thousands of spirits? She'd long lost track of how many she had burnt to ash.

Mokou wrenched her hand free with a sigh. "Vengeful spirits. Thousands of them."