3630/God Will Rise - Part Five

God Will Rise - Part Five
Date of Scene:	07 January 2016
Location:	The Tundra
Synopsis:	Further adventures in Lucrelia and its mountains!
Cast of Characters:	385, Riva Banari, Sanary Rondel, 757, 821, 908, 916

---

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     With the holidays passed, bodies rested, and the truce over with, it was time to head back into the thick of things. Lyner, after briefly leaving a message on the public band, passes through the warpgate leading to the Lucrelia region. Cloak wrapped around his form, he steps into the snow, and proceeds on towards the distant city gates.

     It will be a bit of a walk, as usual, so there is plenty of time for those who have elected to approach the city to decide just what they will do and what they will say in regards to various things. There was a lot to think about. The Incarnations, the Einherjar, the mystery of Laurence, or at least, someone who looks like him. The name, King Arnest The 3rd...Lucrelia's role in the past conflict against God...

     There really was a lot to think about. Lyner sighed and shook his head. "So, while we're on the way, let's recap. What do we know, and what do we plan to do?" He spoke up towards the others who have likely arrived.

     MOUNT LUMINOUS

     This treacherous place, potentially crawling with fearsome Incarnations and Einherjar, is as unsettlingly quiet as usual. Not a sound to be heard, save for the wind itself swaying the trees. Those that choose to go this way surely know the path to God's Temple above. Those that didn't could be guided. Eir, the Einherjar they unsealed last time they were here, is nowhere to be seen.

     The stillness is almost uncomfortable. Like this entire place has been sealed inside of a bottle. But those details aren't important. There is reason and purpose for coming here. What are they? Only those who choose this path know.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    It would appear that CASTER has been sent to assist the Union group, should they require it. She arrives without Gudako, the blue-robed pink-haired foxgirl having shapeshifted her ears and tail away to blend in with the crowd. Insofar as someone wearing light robes like her can blend in here of all places. She seems unusually peppy and cheerful, but then very few people here really know what she's like.

    "Hi, hi~! Master won't be making it, so she sent me!"

    She takes a backseat to the action though, staying behind the group (or however behind Archer will allow, anyway). She will probably make a lot of comments about shiny things she spots. And god help you if Rin whips jewels out. CASTER sure seems to be in a good mood.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva walks along with the others heading towards the town. In the aftermath of the revelation from the Well of Knowledge and the very /interesting/ timing of the Incarnation attack, she seems intent on heading back into town, perhaps for information, perhaps for other things. "Well, we know that the humans and the Einherjiar had mostly mutually annihilated each other in a battle, the last survivor appearing to be that King guy. We don't know where he's been since then or what happened there. Before we could find out, we were attacked by an Incarnation who drove us away from that well." She ponders for a moment. "I was thinking about checking city history and then nosing into some places I might not be allowed to go... officially." She smiles a little, wearing some cold-weather gear that looks to be more appropriate to the local genre.

Misha (757) has posed:
    It's back to the snow and the cold. Misha Arsellec Lune is beginning to get weary of the same frigid reaches in the middle of nowhere! But the Reyvateil does not complain. Complaining isn't really her style, and that's why the Star singer has just opted to once again bundle up, even if it's just to visit Lucrelia again, rather than head up that forsaken mountain. Forsaken- but not God-forsaken, apparently, anyway.
    Recap? "Well at the very least, we know, Laurence probably isn't telling us everything. At least I think he isn't, anyway."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
    LUCRELIA:

Yuna emerges from the warpgate shortly after Lyner puts his call out on the broadband. She's in civilian clothes this time, bundled up a bit against the cold - not in a cloak, but in more modern winter clothing - and atypically, she's accompanied by three more girls who aren't quite as bundled up but also appear to be civilians. There's also Elner, of course; the little robo-faerie looks basically like always, flitting around and generally hovering near Yuna to monitor the situation from her vantage point.

Yuna gives Caster a slightly wary look, but bows politely to the foxgirl. "How was Christmas for you and your Master?" she asks - again, being polite; it never hurts, it rarely costs much, and it can save quite a lot of trouble. Yuna offers similar greetings to the rest of the group as they arrive; once everyone's gathered, she turns her attention to Lyner and the question he asked.

"We know that sometime in the past, the people - and leader - of Lucrelia raided thet temple on the mountain to steal the power of the God who dwelled there," Yuna recounts. "We have good reason to believe that somebody in Lucrelia still has that power, and we think that's why the Incarnations have started attacking it. Right?"

She's been thinking this over off and on since the last visit to Mount Luminous; Yuna takes matters of trespass against divinity rather seriously, and while she has some further ideas as to what's going on, she's not about to lay all of her cards on the table just yet.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Back to Lucrelia once more! After the last incident at the mountain, Sanary's not showing up unprepared. No, she's wearing her heavy guard-boosting armor today! And just in case, she's got all three shields on her as she's been in the habit of doing lately: One on her back, one on a forearm, and one in hand. Hopefully, she won't need it today, but...

     ... Well, that Einherjar wasn't exactly happy to see anyone the last time the whole group was up there. What were the odds it'd be happy to see her now? What if there were other Einherjar around, even? Or Incarnations. She still hasn't figured out the difference yet.

     Either way, she's on her way up the mountain! If there isn't anything to stop her, she'll just start digging around once she reaches the chamber from her last visit here, trying to find any sorts of clues or discarded objects that might actually be worth looking at. Something they missed last time, something that wasn't there before... Even something shiny!

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Meanwhile...

    Gudako and Caster return to God's Temple, with Sanary. The air still as it is, and Caster having created charms to conceal both her and her master's magical presences, as well as Sanary's, at least to basic scans, the Servant-- not the Master-- has devised this ploy to create the minimum amount of opposition possible. Gudako is busy playing a CELLPHONE GAME, for what it matters, and is fine letting Caster take charge. Gudako isn't much of a liar, so letting the nine-tailed fox handle it is just smart. Though she's not entirely sure about the exact plan that was used being... well, foolproof.

    You know how Mad Enhancement is.
    And jealousy.

    "Not much further, now," Caster says, to both Gudako and Sanary. "Mhm, I wager the Einherjar might still be there! ... and if it's not, we can just take those statues. I could probably shrink them for transportation, but we'll have to be careful not to use so much magic one wakes up. I guess if one does, plan B is to capture a live specimen."

Archer (821) has posed:
     As the two red-clad forms exited the warpgate, Archer sighed to himself with an exasperation that, admittedly, was only half-caused by the budding complexity of the situation around them.

     Ever since Yari Takane's near-death, Tohsaka Rin had refused to let the Servant out of her sight, forbidding him from acting independently for the time being - and whenever a mission came up where she felt he should go, she would come right along with him.

     She obviously still blamed herself for what happened with Takane, even though Archer felt she had little reason to. And as a result, she didn't want him acting severely out of turn.

     It certainly wouldn't help them here.

     As the group recounts what they know, Rin - the newcomer here - gives a belated greeting to those she is only just now meeting such as Riva, Misha and Lyner himself; "Hello. It's a bit sudden, but I'll be... accompanying my Servant for the time being. I'm Tohsaka Rin - Archer's Master. I look forward to working with you all."

     While Rin listens to the accounts to catch up everything she needs to know, Archer likewise offers his own input - "The entity 'Eir' stated that one with the so-called 'power of god' would likely be immune to aging. Considering that Lawrence bares a very striking resemblance to this 'King Arnest', it's likely we are facing the same individual who assaulted the Einherjar in the past." He pauses, thinking back on something. "At the same time though, I see little reason to leave the Einherjar themselves alone - at this point, I doubt either side is truly innocent anymore."

     "You think I'd let you go up there yourself?" Rin quips, mild annoyance splayed across her face - if anything, she seems to think she would be the one better suited to studying something like this.

     "At the very least, I'd have a higher chance of surviving" Archer counters, noting the female magus' annoyance rising yet again.

     "You'd also blow the mountain up, probably" Rin deadpans, tilting her head to the rest of the group. However, she does chew on her lip a bit as she thinks back on the reports, knowing it would be a big risk to leave any stones unturned. Finally, she sighs and settles on a compromise - "If anyone thinks anything is still up there, then one of us will go up. But /they/" - she gestures to Lyner and the group - "can decide which of us should go. I'm not going to make that kind of decision alone when this is a joint mission."

    Glancing wearily at the other Servant, Archer seems rather doubtful of the honesty in Caster's sentiments, finding her good mood to be somewhat disconcerting. "Oh? And just where is your Master today? Out hiking?"

     He doesn't even bother hiding his suspicions on where Gudako might be - clever though she was in how she did things, the level of ambition and blatant disregard for consequence she'd shown made her destinations rather predictable. After all, she'd already used this tactic - everyone else who could so much as disagree with her was here.

     After all... it really was too much to hope that seeing one person play god and fail would dissuade that girl from thinking she would have any better luck.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Lyner nodded, looking between everyone as they gave their theories and ideas in general. "Right, that's about what we know." He nodded to Yuna and Misha, a hand coming out of his cloak and to his chin. "What we saw in the well raised a bunch of questions. I thinking that we'd go and ask Laurence about it. But then, maybe that might be too straightforward, huh?" He glanced at Riva next and chuckled sheepisly. "W-Well Riva...I mean, I guess as long as you're not caught? I still feel bad about it, but I can't be sure if we'e got time to be floundering around." Caster's arrival is met with a blink. She was...oddly chipper, wasn't she? Did someone give her some fried tofu!? He had no idea. But Lyner, being Lyner merely smiled. "Hey Caster, you seem happy. Something good happen?"

     Archer and Rin were given due attention after that. This /was/ the first time Lyner had seen Rin, so he nodded, offering a silly half salute-half wave. "Hey Archer! And...Rin? This is the first time we've met, yeah. Your partner's been pretty helpful in the investigation going on here, so thanks to you both." The mention of Mount Luminous gives the knight pause. "The mountain? Hmm...I'm not sure. I do remember that the temple we went to last time was mostly unexplored. Eir just led us through one wing of the place, to a special chamber. We were attacked before we could see the rest." More chin rubbing. "...There might be something up there, but I can't be sure..."

     While all of that talk happened, the group steadily made their way towards the city gates. And once they arrived, they would see that it was like the last time they went there. Two guards posted out front, wearing standard issue platemail with a long lance, and a sword at the hip. Their helmets obscured their faces, but it could be assumed that they were being watched as they approached. Up top the walls, other guards occasionally passed by in patrol. Nothing special going on here.

     Once in speaking range, one of the guards spoke up. "Halt. What business do you have here in Lucrelia?" His tone was gruff and impatient. He definitely did not want to deal with these weirdo multiversals. And it seemed like they weren't going to just raise the gates for the group either.

     What to do?

     MOUNT LUMINOUS

     Sanary, Gudako, and Caster make their way up to the temple unhindered. Not a single Einherjar to be found. They would eventually figure out why when they arrive within the temple's main chamber. The damage from last time was still there. But within the various indents in the walls, they would be able to see all of the stone Incarnations currently standing at rest. The bird from last time, the titan that attacked Yuna and Riva, and several others. And even the fire giant from last time. Didn't they kill it before? It must have gotten remade, or something. Who knows?

     As far as paths, there is the door dotted hallway to the west, leading to the Well of Knowledge, another hallway to the east that lead to parts unknown, and a massively wide set of stairs that led up to a huge gate that was...currently firmly closed. It didn't look like it would open without some trick. Or if you had the strength of a titan.

     There seems to be no indication of living activity so far...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna smiles, bowing politely to the guards on duty. "You might recall that we were investigating the source of the Incarnations who've been attacking Lucrelia over the past while?" she asks as she straightens back up. "We've come across some information that could guarantee Lucrelia's safety, but we need to speak with the town's leader - Mr. Laurence - about our findings. Particularly," she adds with another slight bow of her head, "since what we've learned could also guarantee the town's eventual destruction, if he doesn't listen to what we've learned ..."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Well, don't forget that I can keep you supplied with some of that. I don't wanna have to carry something that big all the way down the mountain." Sanary gives Caster a slight smirk as she says that, already expecting the latter because of her luck with... Well, everything. She still keeps her shields ready in case they're needed, of course, but the lack of activity in the area does let her rest the kite shield against her shoulder as she trudges onward.

     Upon reaching that chamber, the healer watches the statues closely before glancing over at Gudako and raising a thumb in approval. "Nothing's moving. Uh. Looks like there's some paths, though... And a door. I could try and get it open, but no promises that none of those Incarnations'll behave the whole time.

     Not that she isn't willing to try it if given the go ahead, of course.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    LUCRELIA:

    CASTER answers Archer's question via radio, and truthfully. Gudako is in fact handling her New Year's farming in multiple games, and didn't originally want to divert attention from that at all. Then to Liner, the Servant nodnods vigorously. "It's always a good day when I'm chosen to represent master, nya!" She is after all the important one right now. The one that matters!

    With their path blocked by a guard, she frowns, pouting. "This again! Humans, huff." What is with this village stopping them at the gates?

    MOUNTAINS:

    Caster observes the statues, then the path and the door. The Well's knowledge is probably too local to be immediatly useful as an objective, so that extra path, or the door, are better targets.

    "Last time, their stone slumber needed magic to cancel out. Hopefully that'll stay true this time too! Here," Caster answers Sanary, before producing a set of talismans that she gently throws towards the shieldbearer. Most of them are incribed with words like STRENGTH, POWER, ENDURANCE, etc., and aim to increase her strength. Hopefully to the levels necessary to open the door.

    Gudako obtains a rare material in her game. Her smile widens a bit but she otherwise remains completely uncaring of the situation, focused on her game before what's going on.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's already said her piece on what needs to be done with the mountain (e.g. NOT blow it up), but she gies give Yuna a big thumbs up for providing superior recap power. "Right! I forgot about that!" She exclaims. Man, does she forget a lot or something?

When they get ot the gate, Riva waves to them, a bubbly smile and expression on her face. "Hi guys! We just got back from the mountain. Fought some Incarnations, killed some Einjerhar, you know, the usual. But besides what Yuna said, we need some more supplies to keep progressing! Any chance you could let us in so we can get on that?" She holds up a pouch that jingles with a money-like sound. Oooh, money.

Archer (821) has posed:
     And so the choice is made, though Archer is somewhat discontent with it himself. If he'd had the option, he would have headed up to the mountain and left Rin in the city... but she was too concerned he'd simply destroy whatever he might find.

     Not as though that might not have been the case anyway. Given everything that had happened, simply destroying the mountain wholesale might actually have been the simplest solution to this mess.

     Then again, they didn't know that for sure. And so they would bank on that risk.

     Taking her leave of the group - and giving a courtesy warning of "Keep an eye on Archer for me, will you?" as if her Servant were a pet, Rin starts moving for the mountain itself, leaving the annoyed bowman behind.

     A moment later, Rin, closing her eyes-

     "Es ist gro�... Es ist klein... Vox got Es Atlas."

     -and takes off for the mountain paths. She reinforces her body to increase her speed - not because she feels a need to rush but rather just to get started as quick as possible, as well as warm herself up with both the cardio and the use of her Magic Circuits increasing her body heat.

     Archer in turn simply resigns himself to playing the guard dog with the rest of the group, following them into the town. He lets the others do the talking... but he takes note of the guard's reluctance to so much as address them.

     ...

     Perhaps Lawrence already knew what they were really here for... and if so, things might have just become even more troublesome.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     The first guard goes silent at Yuna's 'information' and glances aside at the second guard. The second guard meets his gaze under that armored helmet, and after several seconds, shrugs. "Very well. Ain't our business what Captain Laurence decides. I didn't see anything." A gruff admission from the first guard. The second steps forward and turns around to look upwards. "Open up the gates!" He calls. A few moments later, chains rattle and the city gates rise, giving the group entry.

     "Don't cause trouble." The first guard warns, and then holds a hand out to Riva.

     Pay up.

     Inside the city proper, they will find that it's as cold and rustic as usual. The last time they were here, Laurence came out to greet them, but now they were totally on their own. No Laurence to be found anywhere.

     MOUNTAINS

     With Caster's blessings, Sanary attempts to open the great gates above. But she will find that they are VERY heavy, even with strength reinforcement. The most she can get is a faint creak and the groan of stone scraping the ground, but progress is minimal. Sanary may or may not have the magical senses to tell that this gate is being closed magically. The leylines flowing through the mountain can be felt converging to this gate.

     And if Sanary couldn't sense it, then Caster definitely could.

     One thing is for sure: Whatever's behind that gate, someone does not want people getting in to see. Not without a fight.

     Rin reinforces her body and dashes off towards her destination. Given her speed reinforcement, it will likely only take her several minutes to arrive. But given her lack of experience with the place, she will have to contend with charting the place. Unless Archer has given her the rundown on the correct path forward. Radio contact is convenient.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    "O-Oh, it's magical," Caster notes. "Sorry, miss Rondel! I should have checked first. It looked like a heavy door, so the obvious route was worth a try!"

    Right, well, let's see. If the leylines converge into the door, it means either they power the spell that keeps it sealed, or... no actually that's about all it can mean. So, either find a counterspell, or just divert power away and have Sanary try again.

    "I'll reroute the magical power going through the door elsewhere, try opening it again~," she informs the shieldwoman, before producing another set of paper slips. These ones spread to the corners of the temple, attempting to tap into the leylines to power a Bounded Field she's deploying on a whim. The Bounded Field is designed to detect the presence of active life within its boundaries, which thanks to the leylines SHOULD be able to cover the whole temple. It doesn't do anything else.

    That way, if one of the statues wakes up, they'll know.
    ... hopefully.

    But a lot could go wrong. The leylines are top-tier here, and could be difficult to just reroute like this. And it's a lot of power for a simple, improvised Bounded Field. If she'd had more time, she could have constructed a better one, but they don't.

    LUCRELIA:

    CASTER suggests going to the barracks, and otherwise continues following the group. Though she sides up to Archer, getting all over his personal space. "So you're kind of a pet too huh? Maybe you should get cute cat ears, they'd go great with that hair!"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva, without even breaking her expression, grins as the gate opens. "Man, you guys are great! It must suck being stuck to stand out here in the cold, though. Here, have this and go get something hot to drink when you get a break." Riva isn't surprised the guards are corrupt. If her guess is right, that's just the tip of the iceberg. She shakes out a handful of silver coins (gold would be too suspicious) and hands them to the guard. He can split it (or argue about it) with his compatriot later. It keeps attention off them.

Once they're inside, Riva stops smiling abruptly, sighing. "I wish the world wasn't like that sometimes." She says to no one in particular." She looks to the others, and nods. "I'm going to go get a few things and start poking around. I'll meet up with you later." She breaks down an alley once they get the chance, and she heads for the local markets.

There, she makes a show of picking up some climbing gear (Rope, grapple, pitons, etc), some rags and lamp oil, and some food and waterskins. After spreading out some cash, she leaves, ducking down another alleyway to head back towards the barracks. This will take her a bit.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     After grunting and straining for a minute or two, the healer finally gives up and picks her shields back up with an annoyed grunt. "Yeesh... Yeah, this thing ain't opening up. Think we might have to go a little bigger to get that thing open, but..." She glances at the Incarnations warily, making sure they aren't going to move suddenly before speaking up again.

     "Heh... Don't worry. You got this. Better than what I was planning, anyway." She makes a mental note to look into this 'rerouting' thing later, moving back from the door to set two of the shields down again. She'll even direct a small bit of energy Caster's way before getting back into position by the door. Not that she's really expecting her own addition to do much for the Servant, but...

     It beats standing there. "Could always blow it up, but... Well, I'll cover you if those things wake up."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna headtilts slightly as Caster goes 'nya' ... but doesn't react to it otherwise. The guards get a smile and another polite bow, plus a peppy little, "Thank you!" before she proceeds through the gate into Lucrelia proper.

Laurence's failure to meet them doesn't exactly surprise her - particularly if Archer's right about him having some idea of why the group is here again. The barracks seem like as good a place as any to find the guards' captain, so she heads that way as well - with Elner flitting up far enough to sort out where they are and what's the best way to get there.

Yuna's contingent of ordinary girls trail along with her; if any of them want to go exploring the city, they suppress the urge, limiting their curiosity to window-shopping in transit.

Archer (821) has posed:
     LUCRELIA:

     Archer sighs to himself as Riva proceeds to bribe the guards to let her in. Once again, greed proved to be the dominant force in human nature.

     Though it did show something useful - namely that the guards weren't undyingly loyal to Lawrence. Perhaps something could be done to turn them against their superior, if they found Lawrence to be as complicit in this as Archer suspected him to be.

     While weary of Caster's suggestions - and clicking his tongue in annoyance at her quips - Archer admits they would likely be the ones who would know where Lawrence is, or at least where to look for him. But just in case, he opts to keep a vigil for any signs of animosity - as well as mentally help guide Rin up the mountains through their link, letting her know where to go.

     They wouldn't try to cause trouble... but for many of those present, trouble seemed to have a way of finding them first. And in all honesty, Archer didn't expect Lawrence to be anything /but/ trouble once they found him.

     MOUNTAINS:

     Rin, thankfully, had Archer as guide to help her navigate up the mountainside at a relatively-decent pace. After she climbs up high enough though, it becomes a bit easier to decide where to go - the Leylines of the mountain are both strong and powerful, flowing freely with potent magic. Once she finds her way to the frozen oasis, all she has to do is start following the pathways and the magic.

     ...

     Depending on how close she gets though, sensing the manipulation of those same Leylines will abruptly put her on edge - and depending on how quickly the bounded field is deployed, those controlling it will likely sense her presence just as much as Rin herself will recognize what she's just walked through.

     Either way, Rin and the Confederates are likely going to soon realize neither party is alone up here.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Riva's leaving the party to go BUY THINGS isn't met with any resistance. As expected, the economy is pretty trash. Everything seems to be inflated, but business is business and no one turns away an outsider. Riva does get weird looks though. But money is the same, no matter who's handing it over.

     So she gets her things and heads over to the knight barracks

     The rest of the group makes their way over with Elner's guidance and soon come upon a stone building with three floors. A castle can be seen distantly from there. Must be where the current king resides, if reason is to be followed. Back to the barracks, soldiers can be seen filtering in and out, some heading around the side of the building to what looks to be a horse stable, outside training ground, as well as other minor facilities.

     Nearby guards spie the group coming and arch a brow at each other. One particularly curious guard, a young fellow by the looks of it. His helmet was in his arms, leaving free view of his short black hair. "Uh...hello? I remember you guys from the tavern a while back. Are you looking for the captain?" Well that was fast. "I remember he met with you over drinks, so..."

     MOUNTAINS

     Caster's Bounded Field is set up without a hitch, and the Incarnations do not move. The magic power being channeled to the gate is diverted, leaving it open to be opened. Or attempted to.

     However, right at that moment, there is a distant crackle of electricity from the eastern wing, and a bolt of violet chain lightning surges through the hall, veering out into the chamber and then splitting apart and arcing right for Caster, Gudako, and Sanary.

     Rin is spared by virtue of not being in range, however she may have heard the roar of thunder from within the temple.

     They were definitely not alone.

     A clack of heels can be heard echoing through the eastern hall before a figure steps out. Wrapped in a battle dress and armor, with long white hair, pale skin, and golden eyes...It was Eir. The white wings on her back shuffled as she stepped into view, leveling an ornate blade at the trio.

     Seeing as how she was mute...she couldn't speak, but her look made everything clear.

     'Why are you here?'

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     It just had to be lightning, didn't it? Why couldn't it ever be fire? Or even ice, if Sanary was wearing that other armor? No, she was just doomed to face people throwing lightning all the time. Without the shields in hand and much ability to dodge in that armor, Sanary just eats that blast of lightning head on! With any luck, it'd only be one of them getting hit with rather than all three.

     Either way, though, she's not in great condition by the time she sits up from the ground. She's twitching, there's burns everywhere, and her own healing magic can only do so much in such a short time. "Nice way to greet guests... Ugh. Hey again."

     She's not in any rush to get up, either, although the healer does drag a shield over while raising her other hand in a lazy wave to Eir. "We're here to.. Uh." She clears her throat and looks over at Gudako and Caster, waving at them briefly before pushing herself up with the shield, letting her healing magic work its... Magic. "Interested in getting some revenge on the people that screwed you over?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna smiles warmly at the young guard, half-consciously turning up the charm now. He doesn't look much older than she is, and she has it on fairly good authority that she's more than typically cute or pretty - she wouldn't have won an interstellar beauty contest otherwise, right? "Actually, yes, we're looking for Captain Lawrence; we ran into some details in our investigation that we really need to talk with him about. I do hope," her voice turns wistful, "we didn't come all this way just to find that he's drunk or something and can't understand how important this is ... do you think you could help us find him? We'd *really* appreciate it ..."

Rin's sudden exclamation on the radio ALMOST throws Yuna off her stride; who could be up on the mountain? ... besides, she thinks, a sticky-fingered game-addicted Confederate girl who's well on her way to re-enacting local history, at the rate things are going ... except she's supposedly not here.

Yuna does not turn to look at Caster, though. Just because somebody is on Mount Luminous provoking the wrath of the local God doesn't automatically mean it's THAT one girl, after all.

Archer (821) has posed:
    LUCRELIA:

     Archer takes note of the boy's relative youth, sighing to himself somewhat melancholically.

     If there was one thing that most youths had in common, it was that many of them wanted to do good with their lives... and often threw themselves into the millhouse as it's gristle.

     Once more, Archer stays to a more observatory role, preferring to keep the majority of his focus on looking out for ambushes - they had come straight to the barracks and yet Lawrence still didn't seem keen on greeting them. Either he was too caught up in his own affairs to bother with it directly... or he flat-out didn't want to be in their company. Neither of these conclusions bode well for alleviating Archer's suspicions of the man.

     ...

     Of course, much of that is forgotten when he senses Rin's distress across through their Master/Servant link, as well as the alert on the radio that Archer's suspicions were correct - something was up on that mountain.

     And if it was who he thought it was, then the first thing the bowman would be contemplating would be whether or not he could do something about a certain vulpine Servant to help even the odds... right behind the fervent hope that Rin didn't get herself killed before she could decide she needed him there to help her.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    Before they can see what's behind DOOR NUMBER ONE!!!, Eir finally appears. Gudako actually pries her attention off her cellphone for the event, glancing at the Einherjar. She muses, but says nothing, just continuing to stare with her dead-eyed 8D.

    Caster frowns, muttering something about timing. If Eir had appeared earlier, they could have immediatly engaged her with optimal setup. The fact she rode in just as they setup to do something else is bothersome. Bounded Fields are hard to change on the spot, and for that matter making offensive ones is pretty hit or miss.

    "Miss Sanary, I don't think there's a point lying to her. Miss Eir, we're interested in the power of God, in whatever form it takes. If you can't hand over your shard of it, we'll just have to do this the hard way~."

    Talismans are deployed, another wave. Four, bearing the words STAY, STATIS, PRISON, WEAKENING. They attach to the edges of the Bounded Field, but don't take effect immediatly. Honestly, resorting to Witchcraft might be more efficient.

    LUCRELIA:

    CASTER continues hounding Archer. But since he's pretty good at not responding, she eventually just huffs, puffs, clenches her fists, trembles comically, and then accusingly points a finger at him. "You're impolite! And a jerk! You should pay attention to nice people who try to talk to you, mister!" ... she doesn't even look threatening, she just sounds extremely childish right now. "Grumblegrumble I should just bite you."

Archer (821) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS:

     It's as the Tohsaka heiress is entering the temple in spite of her weariness over the abruptly-established bounded field that she first contemplates that something is up here... but was the bounded field the work of the Einherjar, or someone else?

     The many statues add to her weariness, installing an almost claustrophobic feeling simply based on the angles they were situated at. At the same time though, Rin can't help but feel some degree of fascination with them, wondering what exactly they truly were - and what history might have been behind them.

     A history that someone seemed bent on repeating it seemed - Sure enough, Rin pauses as an audible gasp escapes her lips at a thunderclap echoing throughout the temple.

     She didn't just hear that - she /felt/ that. The discharge of raw power was so immense that she would picked it up even if she wasn't in range of hearing the impact.

     That clinches it. Someone was here - and someone else wasn't at all happy about it.

     Muttering a curse to herself, Rin picks up the pace for the site of the disturbance, after first alerting everyone else on the radio that something was indeed wrong here, moving as fast as she can through the hallways - with the many statues now worrying her far more as she feels they are almost /staring/ at her, waiting for the chance to be released from their stony prisons and set loose. On her... and on Lucerlia.

     What the hell was going on up here - who could have possibly thought this was worth antagonizing an entire army of entities like these? With a populated village down below to get caught in the crossfire no less?

     Whatever or whoever it was... she only hoped she could get there in time to try and avert it.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     The soldier meets Yuna's gaze and blinks. "Uh...well, um..." Unable to maintain eye contact, she half looked away, a tinge of red coloring his cheeks. This was...awkward. Okay stop. Think. You're a soldier! Not a schoolkid! Yeah! "A-Ah...I actually haven't seen the captain all day. But he should be at his home." A pause. "Oh. I guess I should show you the way."

     So awkward. So pure. So easy to manipulate. As if trying to hide his own embarrassment, he donned his helmet at that point, obscuring his face like the rest of the soldiers. "I'm pretty sure he's not drunk. I don't think I've ever seen the captain drunk at all actually." Well that was delightfully random. "So, uh, is that whole thing going well? He asked you to check out Mount Luminous, right?"

     Finally, someone mentioned the proper name of that place. Caster's antics is met with a brief look and a confused 'huh'. Lyner and Archer, and the others are nodded to, and then he heads off, leading the way through the streets.

     Lyner, for his part, was content to let the talking be done by Yuna. never underestimate the power of a cute girl. Caster however gets an arched brow for her antics. She was acting REALLY weird. The Caster he'd seen was more...proper? Mature? She was acting like a child now. Was she high?

     After several blocks, the soldier stops, gesturing to a large house at the end of the city block they were on. It was a nice place, considering the era of this city. A plume of smoke from a fireplace could be seen rising up from the chimney on the roof. There was definitely someone in there. "There it is. I've never been inside, but I know he lives there. Good luck with your investigation!"

     And awkwardly, after staring at Yuna for a second too long, he turned and walked off, his job done.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS

     Eir's golden gaze smoothly slides between Sanary, and then Gudako and her Servant. "......"

     Revenge? What in the world was Sanary talking about? Yes, that all happened, but...there was no need for her to- Oops, Gudako came out and just said what they were after. That threw any hope of negotiation out the window! The Einherjar narrowed her gaze at the Magus and gripped her sword tighter. streaks of violet electricity began to spark across the blade, which was as good an answer for someone who was mute.

     "....?"

     Caster's talismans confused her at first. She was expecting a direct attack, but was lost to find that they did not actually explode or shoot magic. No, they reinforced the bounded field. Not about to wait to find out what they did, the Einherjar's wings unfurled and she dove forward towards Gudako, lashing out with a wide swing of her blade.

     Lightning exploded from it, hurtling through the air and going right for the redhead. Seems like she was going to attempt to take out the weakest looking link here. Sanary and Caster were both momentarily ignored for this.

     Meanwhile, Rin would find that she was fast approaching ground zero. The sounds of a fight started up are as plain to the air as ever. Someting big was happening here for sure. Those stone Incarnations still do not move. But it definitely does feel like they are watching...waiting...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Someone who never gets drunk? In a city like this one? That's bizarre - but Yuna sets that aside, nodding to the young guard, still smiling. "Yes, we've been investigating to find out why the Incarnations are attacking Lucrelia, or trying to. I think we're pretty close to pinning down the answer, but we really do need to talk to the Captain about a couple of things to make sure Lucrelia is safe."

Mount Luminous is the name of that mountain? Both Yuna and Elner file that tidbit away for future reference - it's good to know the proper name of a place, and in Yuna's opinion, 'Luminous' is entirely fitting for a holy mountain (or at least, a mountain on which holy ground exists).

Caster's antics don't particularly evoke a reaction from the idol; she's more interested in following the young guard to Laurence's home. "Thank you very much!" Yuna says, smiling extra-brightly before she bows to the young man. "You've helped us out a lot; I hope I'll be able to repay you properly for this favor sometime."

And she really DOES appreciate the help, too - maybe not enough to actually go out on a date with him, but he doesn't look like he expects that; he may be too innocent to hit on her when she's here on business. It's kind of a nice change from some of the fanboys she's had to deal with. Once the soldier is on his way back to the barracks, though, Yuna takes a moment to relax and re-center herself before looking around at the others. "So, who wants to be the one to knock on the door - or is that my job too?"

She *did* kind of take the lead at getting this far, after all ...

Meanwhile, Elner has grown more concerned about the situation at the mountain; the little robo-faerie tries scanning in that direction - but there are multiple factors which could impede its sensors. There's the distance involved, there's whatever ambient energies surround the mountain as an effect (side- or otherwise) of the leylines, there's the possibility that the mountain itself is physically blocking sensors or that the holy barrier interferes somehow ... and then there's the fact that mountain!Caster was actively trying to cloak her party ...

But on the other hand, Rin's pretty much confirmed SOMETHING is up. Elner's just trying to get a better sense of 'what' if possible.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "That's what I was getting at." Sanary chuckles lightly at Caster's bluntness, although she's thankful for that brief opening to just let herself recover from the lightning. She'll have to check that none of her clothes are fused with her skin, but that can wait until after they've already left with the Einherjar's power.

     With or without the rest of the Einherjar in tow. With a fight apparently starting, however, the shield cleric's ready to throw herself into the fray! Scooping up her shield on the way, Sanary finds herself rushing headlong into the path of Eir's lightning, acting as a bulwark standing between the Einherjar and the Master! Surely, with two shields to bear the brunt of that shock-

     Okay, no, that lightning is still incredibly painful. Granted, it's not nearly as painful as it was the first time around, but still. On the plus side, she /does/ manage to stay on her feet this time around (even if she's cursing to high hell afterwards).

     "Freaking... Alright, if that's how you want it!" Bracing herself against the riot shield, the healer funnels some of her energy into the eye before firing off a heat laser at Eir, triggering an explosion either on contact or immediately after passing the Einherjar to try and catch it from behind.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     There are indeed a number of factors making scanning a problem. The distance, as well as the myriad energies surrounding the mountain do plenty to muddle up any sensors. But a careful individual may be able to faintly sense a number of spikes within the readings, suggesting that conflict may have been happening. Of course, it would be faster to just talk to Rin, wouldn't it?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    Woops, boss engaged.

    Gudako gives Caster a thumb up. "Good job, Caster!" 8D

    No sarcasm. She's completely honest here. That saved them a lot of time and hassle, and that's good behavior!

    Eir lunges straight for Gudako, identifying her as the weakest present. Which is very true. Sanary intercept, but the magus is still knocked a foot back from the impact, glancing towards Caster. "Caster, nevermind the field, we don't have time. We'll just do brute force today."

    Fingerguns! Gudako points them at Sanary, pew pewing a weak healing spell at her. It's not much, but it's a reminder Gudako IS a magus and can support people.

    Caster nods, meanwhile, and pulls a duo of paper slips. EARTH and HANDS, the two talismans are hurled towards Eir's feet! They cause a rumble in the temple's ground, a short quake before hands of solid earth and marble surge out. They're trying to grab the Einherjar's feet, but a few try to punch her ankles and knees too. It'd be pretty brutal to get hit by, for sure.

    "Miss Rondel, focus on strikes that can disable her nonlethally. We can just sling her over a shoulder and leave with her if needed, right?" Caster tells Sanary, while Gudako glances back towards the door. Well, wasting time is a sin. Gudako will break off the encounter and poke the door with a stick, see if it still won't budge to normal human strength.

    LUCRELIA:

    Berserker makes no effort to turn back, being in a public place. But she creeps up to Lyner and licks him on the cheek affectionately. "Nya! This was Caster's idea, actually. Master really didn't want to get out of the house, she really likes those cellphone games. I don't feel like fighting though. Hungry! Anyone have a snack?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Well, that helps to distract things from deciding who takes the bold step of knocking on Laurence's door. Trying not to look relieved at the unexpected reprieve, Yuna attempts to sidle up behind Bersercat ...

And reaches up to scritch her between/behind the ears, just the way cats are *supposed* to appreciate. This may escalate into full-on proper petting, or as close to it as Yuna can fathom doing to a 'cat' in a human body.

Archer (821) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS:

     Rin, pushing farther and faster then is likely safe, will likely reach the site of the battle quick enough... and when she does, she just barely bites back a vicious curse, lest she tip anyone off to her presence - more so then they may be already at least.

     She wasn't really surprised to see Gudako, having quickly developed something of a loathing for the selfish girl. She was a bit more surprised to see Caster though, considering she thought that Servant was in the town. However, the one that gets the most surprise out of Rin is Sanary, stunned - and perhaps somewhat disappointed - that the mercenary was willing to endanger the entire city, as well as suffer injury, for someone else's power-games.

     However, dealing with that would have to come later - based on what she saw, Caster was responsible for the bounded fields. Perhaps had she not known what Gudako had done before, she might have paused to consider who attacked first... but based on the premeditated nature of the tapping in the Leylines, it made it hard to believe otherwise - and so Rin took the path against those who seemed to be the aggressors.

     After all, someone should try to show this 'Eir' entity that not /all/ humans were obsessed with power.

     Bracing herself, Rin leaps forward to push through the bounded field - which would announce her presence to Caster quite loudly - one arm already braced against the other. "Gandr!"

     But Rin's targets aren't any of the Confederates - it's Caster's paper-charms that she's aiming at, intending to incinerate them all and dispel Caster's attempts to weaken 'Eir's powers, hopefully giving her more more of a chance to both defend against Sanary's attacks and a better chance of taking the Cleric out of the fight.

     Archer had tole her how Caster's magic seemed to work. However, she doubted that would be all - Shirou had theorized Caster's identity as being that of Tamamo-No-Mae... and if so, paper-slips likely weren't going to be all she could do. But if nothing else, destroying them would set the pair back.

     After firing her first volley, she takes a position to support 'Eir', leveling a rather harsh glare at the Confederates along with pointing her 'firing arm' at them. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, here?! And don't even bother trying to run - I've already told everyone else you're up here! We're trying to stop this damn war and you're going off doing the exact same thing that started it?!"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    LUCRELIA:

    Berserker is soothed further by Yuna. She purrs appreciatively. At least she's not getting involved in your business! In fact: "Let's go to his house! Maybe he has food and he'll share!" Gotta stay on track! The track to food. The Servant cares more about that possibility right now than anything else.

Archer (821) has posed:
     LUCRELIA:

     Archer for the most part retained his silence, feeling a mix of exasperation and bemusement at how easily-manipulated the young guard was by Yuna.

     Not that he couldn't sympathize - he himself had been rather... ill-equipped to deal with women. He still was in a way, but perhaps that was more due to the fact that there /wasn't/ any reliable way to ever properly deal with women.

     At the mention of 'Mount Luminous' - what an unsurprisingly melodramatic title - Archer casts his glance back to it a moment, again hoping Rin was doing alright.

     He should have been the one up there, not Rin. But there was little he could do about it until Rin deliberately requested he come to help her. Not that it lessened his concerns - especially considering who he felt was likely on that mountain with her.

     ...

     And then he hears back from Rin, and everything becomes far worse an issue.

     It wasn't Caster with them - it was Berserker... and if Berserker went off in this city, they could easily be accused of being aggressors. Exactly what Gudako had boasted she could do whenever she wanted. She'd planned this out.

     Now they had three different problems; Gudako having caused an issue with the entities on the mountain, their unfinished inquiry with Lawrence, and the ticking time-bomb that was Berserker - whom Yuna was working to pacify even now. Plus there was Riva's impromptu... well, Archer hesitated to call it a 'plan' - flight of whimsy would be closer to how he'd describe it. Once again, he cursed fate - and especially Gudako for forcing them into a battle on two fronts.

     ...

     Still... there was at least one way out on that front. Whether he could achieve it was the question.

     As such, while he cautiously readied himself to confront Lawrence, he subtly worked to visualize one of the smaller, yet no less potent weapons embedded among the endless blades of his inner world.

     If Archer played it right, he would kill two birds with one stone. It would just be a matter of getting the stone ready, and then making the throw without missing. A gamble - one that would involve Rin's life, no less.

     But if he was pressed into that situation... what choice would he have?

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS

     Sanary, damn it! Stop tanking! You're a healer! Go and pick up a staff and adorably fidget off to the side worrying about how weak your heals are- I mean what?

     Eir's attack is intercepted by Sanary, and she stops short, leaping back to gain distance from the sudden intrusion. Lightning surges up again and the Einjerhar prepares another volley. Sanary's eye laser is met with a simple sidestep...or it would have, if Caster had not interrupted with those seals! Rin managed to burn away one of them with a Gandr, but the other got through, and one of Eir's legs was grabbed by the ground below.

     ".....!"

     Unable to simply sidestep, she raised her sword, letting the laser strike the flat side of the blade. The explosion following threw her back, but since she was being held by one leg to the ground, she tripped backwards from the momentum, landing on her rear.

     ".....!?"

     Crap crap crap! This was a terribly disadvantegous position to be in! She was wide open. Rin's presence was noted right about then, and she inwardly groaned at another intruder, not realized that Rin had helped her.

     But right now, she needed to defend herself. Eir's wings spread, and lightning crackled along them. And then with a flap forward, a volley of sharpened, electrified feathers burst out from her wings, darting for Sanary and aiming to overwhelm her with sheer volume.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Lyner sighed at all the radio chatter, as well as Berserker being Berserker, and approached the front door of Laurence's house, bringing up a hand and knocking three times firmly.

     Several moments later there was a click, and the door opened, revealing....a maid. A young lady that looked to be in her twenties, wearing a somewhat dour looking expression, with a head of short blue hair and a modest, black and white maid's uniform. Her eyes looked between everyone present. "...Good day. If you are here for Master Laurence, then I must inform you that he is busy. If you wish to leave him a message, then I will relay it to him."

     ANOTHER BLOCK.

     This was beyond suspicious now. Lyner quirked a brow and glanced aside at the others. "Well..." Were he not himself, he would have pushed through. But now he was figuring out what to say. Well, they at least had to buy time for Riva...whatever she was doing.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The harder Laurence resists seeing them, the more Yuna wonders what he's up to ... and that still applies even if our working theory is wrong and he *ISN'T* the same man as the king who stole God's divine power from the temple on Mount Luminous.

So while Yuna is still scritching Bersercat, the blonde smiles at the maid, "It's really kind of urgent, I'm afraid. Our investigation of Mount Luminous has turned up some disturbing information; the city of Lucrelia is likely to be in grave danger that we can't protect it from. I don't think this can wait for another day."

Why lie when the truth serves you just as well? Yuna doesn't see a need to make up some story that she's going to have to work to keep the details straight on.

Riva Banari has posed:
MEANWHILE...

Riva is working her way through the city according to Lyner's information, coming up towards the building from a different direction. Optimally, she could approach from an alleyway or a nearby building, one or the other. She also looks around for a decent place to use that grapple she bought to climb up and get inside through a window, or maybe something more exotic. Who knows? She has to look first.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    Though Rin is just a magus, and there's no way her magecraft could measure up, she doesn't have to. Tactical elimination of what powers Caster's magic can do pretty reliable damage. Like the various sigils in Medusa's Blood Fort, the talismans act as guides and anchors for the spellwork at play. Destroy them and you weaken the effects. It'd take a bit more than that to completely destroy the Bounded Field or spells, but the damage is noticeable.

    As the Bounded Field finally reconfigures, very loosely, it projects a very, very weak prison and weakening effect. Neither Eir nor Rin are weak enough to be affected, though, but if someone were to beat them up and lower their status to critical, they'd have a harder time resisting the effect.

    Caster produces her massive mirror, and returns the favor to Sanary then. She gets in front of the healer and tanks, mirror up front. Many of the feathers slam into the shiny surface, bouncing off; but some of them make it past, striking legs, hands and one even catching the side of Caster's face. It looks pretty painful, but she's grinning.

    "Miss Sanary, don't heal me."

    An odd order. Caster lunges for Eir, and-- swings her mirror. Well, 'swing'. It never actually touches her hands, and floats magically around her, so it's more like she makes a swinging gesture and the mirror suddenly flies in an arc like it's a baseball bat. Which, given its side and durability, it may as well be.

    If magic becomes unreliable, smacking someone never does. And that mirror is deceptively punchy as a 'melee' weapon, too.

    Gudako continues poking the door. C'mon, open sesame, damnit.

    LUCRELIA:

    Berserker immediatly approaches the maid. "Ah! That outfit! That's so awesome, do you have a spare? I need it! For things! Master will be so happy at Berserker's initiative!"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Nonlethal. Right." Shit. Well, at least Sanary knows about it sooner rather than later! Hopefully, that little... Explosion won't be too much of a problem. Gudako's healing actually appears to help the defending cleric stay on her feet, and Rin's appearance...

     Wait. Rin's appearance? Is she supposed to be here? Trying to play it off as nothing big doesn't seem like it'll work, so maybe... Trying to make Eir think Rin's working with them could work! "Oh, hey Rin! Nah, we're ditching the good cop bad cop. Just kick her ass and get the transport ready!"

     Seeing the Einherjar fall and prepare another volley of electrified bullshit, the healer is about to brace herself for the worst again, but Caster's sudden interference keeps her from having to deal with that! And as if on cue, the request /not/ to heal her comes just in time to stop the healer from... Well, healing.

     What a strange day. But with Caster going after Eir, that leaves Sanary free to deal with the new intruder. "Uh.. Watch out, Rin!" She calls out in a rather exaggerated manner before running straight for the Magus to try and just tackle her with her shields in front of her, looking not unlike a very spiky football player.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     RIVA

     There is a convenient raised porch on the second floor leading inside the house. There is a door as well. From there, the attic window isn't too far up.

Archer (821) has posed:
     LUCRELIA:

It seemed Lawrence really had no intents on seeing them in any capacity. If Archer wasn't sure the man was involved before, he was now.

     Likewise, he silently approves of and supports Yuna's efforts in using the truth to their advantage. "Indeed - if we felt that it could wait, we would have made a more formal request to see him when convenient. As it is, though... I fear time is of the essence."

     He also keeps his attention fixed on Berserker - Yuna may not be able to distract her forever. And if push came to shove, he would have to act before the Servant realized what was happening - thankfully though, she seemed very easily distracted, so for the immediate time she wasn't a direct concern.

     If Gudako called for her, though... he'd have to keep an eye out for that. He'd only have one chance.

     He hoped Rin would be alright for the time being... and in regards to their current predicament, he hoped Lawrence wasn't on a higher floor of his house - knowing their luck, Riva would enter the building in the exact same room he was in.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Berserker is given the most withering stare this lady could muster. Which was to say the look she was giving Berserker was akin to the the look one would give when regarding garbage. Or a crushed insect. "...I will inquire with Master Laurence if he is open to handing off a spare uniform." Said so simply, and professionally, and yet the look on her face was just...fed up.

     "...Is that so." The maid responds offhandedly to Yuna, rolling her eyes in a manner that suggested she really could not care any less than she already didn't. "Well, I'm certain your urgent information can wait." She is about to slam the door in their faces, when...

     "......"

     She inclines her head aside, looking into the house from where she stood. "....Really now..." A deep sigh is had and for some reason, she opens the door wide and steps aside. "...Master Laurence is in the study. Follow me." She spoke with deep resignation, closing her eyes for a moment, as if she was staving off a headache as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

     And then she lead them off. The inside of the house was pretty fancy for a medieval styled place. Laurence must be well off for his station. The maid headed for the stairs to the second floor. ...But why did she suddenly change her mind?

Archer (821) has posed:
MOUNTAINS:
     "Oh, no you don't!"

     It is here that Rin works to try and prove herself as being on 'Eir's side as, with a strike of her Reinforced leg in a slow sweep, she pounds the earth-hand to try and shatter it so as to allow 'Eir' to dodge Caster's mirror.

     She then gives 'Eir' as much of a reassuring glance as she can, complete with smile. "In case you're wondering, I'm not with them. In fact, they came up here without telling anyone else. So what there doing here pretty much makes them enemies."

     Gudako gets a more angry look, as if the Tohsaka magus cannot wait to wipe the smirk off the other woman's face.

     With that, she orients herself to face Confederates alongside 'Eir', bracing one arm and reading Gandr again to target any paper-seals Caster deployed. "I'm probably not on par with you... but you won't complain about having some help, right?"

     At this point, Rin is trying to debate her options - in terms of a straight-up magic fight, she would lose against Caster... and knowing first-hand about Sanary's power, she couldn't hope to out-last them either. And with Gudako free to meddle with the doorway while she and 'Eir' were occupied...

     Speaking of Sanary - it seems Rin is actually starting to feel less guilty about Archer's misgivings for the Cleric, and her expression makes it very clear she doesn't buy a word of Sanary's claims. At the same time though, the claim of 'watch out' at least gets her attention, though with Reinforcement running through her body she is left deceptively strong... but not strong enough to throw Sanary away as opposed to be left locked against her, clinching her teeth in frustration. "Why are you here?? I can understand Ordria, but why you? What the hell is worth endangering that whole city for?!"

     As much as she hated the idea of having to do it... history might very well repeat itself in a different way - Rin's history at least, as she considered she would have to even the odds a bit. Even if it meant using up the second of her Command Seals to do so.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Thank you!" Yuna expresses her gratitude to the maid in good cheer, and follows the maid inside with the others; since this isn't the kind of house where you take your shoes off at the door, she settles for wiping her feet on the mat before stepping inside. Now where *is* the study ... upstairs? Probably.

Elner takes the time to scan the house's interior and map things out - how the rooms are arranged, how thick the walls are, any camouflaged panels that might open onto hidden passages or secret cabinets, concentrations of holy power ...

No, Elner's not being polite. And while the robo-faerie doesn't expect to detect magical signatures, the robo-faerie *IS* the creation and servant of the Queen of Light, the same being who bestowed power on Yuna to act as her champion. Holy power might just stand out to the robo-faerie's sensors.

As for the three girls who've been accompanying Yuna, they meander inside as well, probably bringing up the rear. They won't come upstairs to the study, though.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS

     For Gudako's part, the gate still does not budge. It no longer has magical backing, but the issue now is that it's HEAVY. The ideal setup would seem to be diverting the magic power, and then having a strength assisted individual pull it open. Or one could simply open it the correct way. But since that didn't seem to be possible, Gudako may or may not be stuck.

     Perhaps Eir can open the gates. Or maybe there's no one currently here with the capacity and authority to properly open them. With things gone to hell here, is it worth finding out?

     Eir blinks in surprise as Caster, the apparent mage, takes the attack for Sanary, who looked like a tank. Now things have just gone upside down. Gritting her teeth, the Einherjar worked to break the earth holding her foot down, but it was taking too long. And Caster was coming right for her. But then it broke off on it's own? No it was that lady who had just arrived? Was she...not with them? Either way, it was just in time for Eir to stand and feel a mirror impact against her armor. It was stronger than it looked, leaving a deep dent and forcing her back. "....!?"

     Seriously? This MAGE was going to face her in melee combat? Frowning, Eir gripped her blade and dove forward, lashing out with her blade and striking the mirror with each pass. But she found that more of her strikes did nothing. They just bounced off! What kind of mirror was this!? Did Caster actually have an unexpected advantage!?

     Rin's words are met with a quick panicked look and a nod. Seeing as how Eir was mute, she couldn't speak, but her actions said it all.

     'HELP. NOW.'

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Elner's scan reveals that the usual rooms, kitchen, storage, what seems to be a small library, washroom, and such are on the first floor. The second floor contains a large bedroom, another smaller bedroom that must be a guest room, a large room that must be the study, and stairs leading up to the attic. The attic is one open space just under the roof. There are some things stored up there, but nothing especially arcane to the senses.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     If it counts for anything, at least Sanary's not trying to just kill Rin outright! She does seem rather impressed when the Magus doesn't just get bowled over, though, even grinning after a moment. "You should teach me that one. Or... Is it from those rocks you sent me as a present? 'cause I still have those."

     Right! Priorities, then banter. An Einherjar to capture, a Magus to stop from preventing said capture... Wait. Why was she trying to just push her over with those shields? "If you have to know..." The cleric mutters something inaudibly, waiting a brief moment after saying that before releasing one of the shields suddenly, then trying grab Rin by the face and kick her in the shin with an armored foot!

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    Calculated strikes hit Caster. She's actually pretty good with her mirror, for someone supposed to be a Caster, but she's making very intentional slip ups. The blade draws blood-- cutting Caster's exposed skin here, her robes there. No dangerous strikes, but each parried blow seems to be intentionally striking the Servant, and she accrues a fair collection of bruises and small wounds.

    "I guess it's two on two now! You should make sure to protect your friend, miss Eir, I don't think she could handle the blows."

    Caster slaps a paper slip on the back of her mirror. It shines with an icy aura, leaving a trail of supercooled air in its wake. And she twirls it, now making much larger arcs with it as she spins and pushes. Wouldn't you know it, making bigger, longer arcs means it goes a bit faster and hits a bit harder.

    Caster plays aggressively, trying to control the battlefield. As the mirror flies it can shoot from angles attempting to deny Eir much movement space, while trying to bash her. And the ice enchantment won't help, trying to slow her down or freeze her. Unlikely it can do the latter, but it might be able to do the former.

    Gudako stops poking the door, just watching the fight for now. Occasionally checking her phone.

    LUCRELIA:

    Berserker is very happy she might get a maid uniform and continues being distracted by Yuna, one assumes. She is the contributest.

Riva Banari has posed:
Oh, handy. With a quick looping of her grapple, she whirls it around for a moment, pitching it upwards to get it to hook on the raised porch. With a tug on the rope to set the hook, she immediately begins shimmying up, pulling the rope along with her so the dangling line doesn't attract attention.

Once she gets up to the porch, she looks around and checks for anyone who might be watching, before going for that attic window. Hopefully, everything will work out.

Archer (821) has posed:
     LUCRELIA:

     So he was finally moving to see them in, was he? The ever-present indicators one was likely hiding something - a home well above their pay-grade. Most men in positions like this tended to live relatively humbly even if they had the money for more - or at least the ones that were actually somewhat respectable.

     "Trace; On."

     Like Yuna and Elner, he also elects to start scanning the house so as to get an idea of it's layout through Structural Analysis - perhaps between the two of them they could find something.

     If nothing else, they could at least locate the study where Lawrence was - as well as pinpoint Riva's approximate location and where they should distract Lawrence or his housekeeping from looking at.

     Of course... he kept in mind that he might not be able to stay long. He could feel it through his link to Rin - she was being pushed back. Whatever Gudako was trying to accomplish, the callous girl was willing to destroy all the effort Lyner had put into alleviating this 'God's' wrath just because of her selfish whims.

     ...

     What was she hoping to accomplish? In the end, it hardly mattered what power you attained - you could never save anyone with power alone. It was a mistake so many had made - a mistake they had seen take place here barely a few weeks ago - and that girl was so willing to repeat it anyway just because she believed she was different.

     Once more, Archer felt helpless and lamented that fact... and hoped that Rin wasn't going to be killed because of it.

Archer (821) has posed:
MOUNTAINS:

     "You're Yari's friend... so because of that, I'm not going to try and kill you." Rin finally grinds out, staring the Cleric straight in the eye. "But if you really care so little about those people that you'd follow that /lunatic/ and her delusional plans, I won't hesitate to stop you!"

     When Sanary seems about to speak, Rin tries to hear what she's about to say - and hisses out a gasp as Sanary grabs her by the face and tries to kick her legs out from under her.

     However, it's somewhat less effective then Sanary might have hoped - if being suplexed into a stone floor hard enough to shatter it by a certain blonde-haired Finnish narcissist couldn't stop her, being kicked by a metal boot wasn't going to either.

     It had certainly hurt, though - the grunt of pain and buckling of her leg was evidence of that - but it only seemed to make Rin more pissed off with the Cleric, any sympathy she'd had for the girl seeming to dry up.

     Then... she lets go of one hand and lets Sanary push her back, using the chance to pull out six gems from her coat and throw them. Rin trades in her maneuverability for the moment to try and interrupt Caster's attempts to dominate the battlefield.

     "Sechs, in Flu� Ein Halt. Funf, drew, vier. Der Riese und brennt das in Ende!"

     And from there, the six gems thus transform and become six magic seeker-shots, four of which arc for Caster's mirror - or rather, the back of it, trying to disrupt it's orbit - while two shoot for Gudako. Either Caster was forced to block the strikes with her mirror's front and give 'Eir' a chance, or she would be forced break off the attack entirely to protect Gudako - either way, Rin knew she was practically just stalling for time at this point to try and get 'Eir' a moment to recover.

     Now though, she was on the ground with Sanary poised to pin her - if nothing improved right now... she would have to summon Archer to her directly. She was unprepared and ill-equipped to stop these three, but she wasn't willing to let them just get away with whatever they were doing.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     RIVA

     The porch door is thankfully not windowed. But who knows what room it leads to. Best to not tempt fate and continue upwards to the attic window above. A quick glance around reveals no immediate issues.

     Speaking of which, once Riva reaches it, she'll find that it's locked. But a look inside tells her that the attic is clear. There are boxes and other old goods about, but nothing immediately strange. But now...how to get through without causing a scene?

     It's not an especially advanced window. It's basically just wooden shutters locked into the closed position.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     The maid, who did not bother to name herself, led the group up to the second floor and to the right once they reached the top. Approaching a door, she knocked twice. "Master Laurence, your guests." A muffled 'Come in' can be heard, and then she opens the door, stepping inside and then making way for the others to do the same. Lyner stepped in, looking about curiously. "Hello, Laurence. It's been a while, hasn't it?" He greeted the man with a smile.

     Laurence mirrored that smile and nodded from where he sat behind his desk. "Indeed, it's been quite some time." On his desk was a load of papers and books. He had one opened with a pen resting on it. He must have been writing. "I heard that you have news? How is everything going?" How did he hear that? He wasn't at the door, and the maid said nothing.

     Speaking of which, she turned and walked out, leaving the group to talk.

     Maybe she was getting Berserker that maid uniform.

Riva Banari has posed:
So far, so good. Riva climbs up, hanging off the window and poking at it. "Well damn." She mutters, but this doesn't stop her. Reaching behind her, she pulls out a wallet and fumbles with it onehanded, removing a credit card. She transfers the wallet to her teeth and wiggles the thin strip of plastic in between the shutters, trying to see if she can jimmy the latch open so she can climb in.

Man, getting locked out of her apartment all those times is paying off.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS

     Eir found herself frustratingly on the defensive with Caster, who seemed to be controlling the momentum of this fight at her leisure. Eir was landing her slashes, but it felt like she wasn't actually doing much, oddly enough. And then came the ice enchanted mirror in wide arcs. Parry after parry, Eir didn't have must room to do anything else. No time to charge up lightning while being pressured like this.

     It wasn't until Rin finally made an opening, firing off those gems, that Eir took the opening to leap back. Once distance was created, she raised her sword, lightning building up more strongly than previously. With her sword raised, she then turn it downwards and stabbed it into the ground. And all at once, streaks of violet lightning hurtled across the ground, spiderwebbing out and attempting to electrify the Servant from below.

     There wasn't much of a chance to do much else. Otherwise, she would have attempted to off Gudako again.

     WHILE ALL OF THIS WAS HAPPENING...

     The statues all around began to shudder...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Well, if the maid doesn't provide Bersercat with a spare uniform, it's something Yuna can keep in mind to potentially bribe the Servant with at another time. For now, she just bows politely to Laurence and waits for the rest of the group to file into the study. "We've learned why the God of this land is targeting Lucrelia, yes. And ... quite frankly, it's very bad news."

If there are chairs to sit in (and enough to go around), Yuna settles into one. Otherwise she stays on her feet, hands folded in front of her thighs. "Many years ago, there was a raid on the temple at Mount Luminous, led by the man who was Lucrelia's king at the time. You might recognize his name: King Arnest the Third."

She watches to see if Laurence reacts to the name, but continues speaking: "He besieged the temple there, his soldiers fighting to overcome the Einherjar and Incarnations who defended it ... and when the temple was defenseless, he entered it in person to seize the power of God from where it resided. But I'm sure I haven't said anything yet that you didn't have cause to know of ..."

She smiles, as warm and friendly as usual, and sees how Laurence reacts. She seems casual enough about it. Elner, by contrast, is quietly primed to react in whatever manner will best protect Yuna and the others - activating her Light Suit if there's any hint of Laurence preparing to attack them, or even teleporting her out of the house entirely if push comes to shove.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    MOUNTAINS:

    Gudako had been wondering whether the door or Eir was more valuable to her. The temple takes that decision for her; as the statues begin waking, their ability to stay dies. And so, Eir it is.

    Rin hurls a volley of jewels, straight for Caster. The powerful explosions of magic knock the Servant back and seem to cause significant damage-- her low endurance is to blame. With effort, Rin could kill this Servant.

    "Huh... you're pretty powerful for a modern magus, girl," she says, with a bit of regreg for taking the hits dead on like that. She didn't expect them to be that powerful. And to make things worse, Eir launches an attack of her own, electricity blasting out from the ground under Caster. Talismans spring to life to protect her, barely in time; she's still singed from the strikes, and falls to one knee, panting.

    "M-Master, I can activate it now," she says.
    "Stop wasting time, fox." Gudako replies. 8D

    Caster nods, and stands straight. She extends her hands to both sides, and a large rock appears in front of her. It glows a sickly green and breaks into light, gathering in the Servant's hands. That-- is a Noble Phantasm. The influx of power doesn't lie.

    "RED SPIDER LILY KILLING STONE!"

    She slams her hands together where the stone used to be, and it unleashes a tunnel of green mist and light towards Eir-- and if she doesn't move, Rin. The blast of magic is extremely powerful, and poisonous as hell. A normal human would die if they so much as came in contact with something the gas touched, according to the Killing Stone's legend-- it's probably not worth testing out.

    And if it weakens Eir enough, the Bounded Field might even be able to take hold and weaken her some more, allowing Sanary to do her thing next. Unfortunately, that means they'll be giving up access to the door. Alas.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     RIVA

     Goddamn it, Riva. Stop getting locked out of your apartment and building up strange skills! Lest you find yourself using them! ...Like now.

     A latch clicks and the shutters loosen. Of course, they're still in the way. But Riva probably doesn't care about property damage at this point, does she?

     If she does break in via property damage, she will find entrance into the attic of the house. HOME FREE. Well, not home. But now she's free to check things out. At least while the group is busy speaking with Laurence.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Glad we're on the same page, then." Sanary's still grinning, almost looking pleased at Rin's complete and utter defiance against her. It's not an interesting fight without someone who's heart isn't into it, after all! "... Rin! I'm not going to betray the people that helped me." The grin fades quickly as she says that, levelling an intense stare at the Magus. "Even if the orders suck sometimes."

     When the Magus goes down, she doesn't follow up on that or even follow her down. Instead, the healer just hunches over quickly to pick up her shield, her grin returning and growing significantly wider. Did she see something just then? She's not saying anything if she did.

     Catching the movement of those statues, however, Sanary's path is clear! Not physically, but in a figurative sense. "Anyway... Uh. Behind you!" She gestures at the statues, then turns and just runs straight at Eir. She doesn't have time to admire that Noble Phantasm, instead trying to follow up on it by wrapping her arms (shields and all) around Eir and activating the AANS to fly the hell out of there.

     Out of the very same hole they had been shot at once before, even.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva totally breaks in, fo sho.

Quickly, she begins sneaking exaggeratedly through the attic, rummaging around in the boxes. Maybe she can find some kind of historical documents, or maybe some inheritance papers, or something showing what Laurences relation might be. Or something. whatever, she'll rummage until she finds something interesting.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     RIVA

     There's...actually not a whole lot worth mentioning up here! Old novels! Old artwork! Old clothes! ...Wait, those old novels were REALLY old. The pages were brittle and the binding was fraying horribly. The art was unremarkable, but the clothes...

     If Riva could remember what King Arnest looked like in the flashback...he was wearing this outfit, wasn't he? Except it wasn't as ratty and worn as it is now. This looked like it should be in a museum exhibit.

     But then, right at that moment... There was a glint of light shining in a line near Riva's neck... if she didn't notice or move in time, then she would find a wire aiming to slice right into her neck precisely and kill her on the spot.

Archer (821) has posed:
     LUCRELIA: The Servant is only just about to leave for the stairs up to the study...

     ...

     And then it happens. The call. A line of thought from his Master. A desperate attempt to change what was about to happen.

     It seems he would have to entrust Yuna, Lyner and Riva with this for the time being... because if he didn't act now, Rin was going to die.

     "Let me know what you find" he tells the others, as outwardly gracious as he can be, giving a nod to the maid if she is present. "See to it my allies are treated well. I myself cannot stay - it seems I have... an errand to run."

     And as soon as he's out of the house-

     "Trace; On"

     -streams of prana flare to life, the Servant's fingers wrapping around the ebb and flow as it condenses into something he'd rarely ever summon in this state; a large shield-shaped object that looked to be made of mauve crystal.

     Normally he never summoned it in it's inert state... but he needed to have it pre-readied for this instance. He likely wouldn't have the chance otherwise.

     ... and no sooner does he do so then he feels the pull on him - the forced pathway that burned through the second of the three miracles to achieve.

     He just hoped she timed it right.

Archer (821) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS:

     Orders?? These were orders? Then... this was a damned mission? By who?

     ... No. That's not the question she should ask here.

     "Are you actually saying that if you were ordered to turn on someone, you'd just do it? You think not killing them makes it better?" Rin actually sounds somewhat upset this time, her mind flashing back to someone else she knew who followed directives to the point it destroyed him. "Don't you get it, Sanary? You're going to end up like Archer if you do that!"

     However, any further protestation is cut off when she senses - and sees - the draw of raw prana being carried out.

     Rin's breath freezes in her chest, eyes widening as she recognizes the stone being called out - the conformation of Caster's identity.

     She could never counter that on her own. Never in a million years would she have the ability to equalize a Noble Phantasm alone, especially not since she used up her gems.

     ...

     She'd be damned if she gave up, though. Even if she has to force a miracle to happen herself as something on her left hand starts to glow beneath her glove, praying he could stop it.

     "ARCHER!"

     At that moment, Sanary's vision was likely going to be at least partly blinded as a familiar red light filled the room - but instead of binding with a command, it was an instant summons as something materialized at Rin and Eir's side in a burst of energy.

     An energy that, as it dissipated, revealed a red-cloaked form wielding a multi-part crystalline shield, awareness returning to his eyes as the green tunnel of energy came to life.

     "RHO AIUS!"

     The next instant, the shield transformed, transitioning from an object made of seven crystal segments into a seven-layered barrier that stood between Eir and Caster.

     The layers erode one by one. All the way up to the fourth petal, they shatter and dull, dimming as the damage they receive eats away at them - and at the wielder, black vein-like marks spiderwebbing across his outstretched left hand as the poison, though diluted, starts burning his body.

     Servant that he was, Archer would not be fighting off the poison easily, even if the Aius did succeed in stopping the attack... which was yet to be seen.

     Rin, in the meantime, catching sight of the Incarnations awakening, now realizes she really doesn't have to last out forever - just long enough, prompting her to lunge for Sanary to try and grab her from behind just like she does for 'Eir', having at this point resorted to simply try and dislodge them both from the entity's body with a simple tackle.

     Nothing if not persistent, it seems.

Riva Banari has posed:
Boring, boring, pointless, useless, boring, Oh, hey, this looks interesting. Riva looks over the clothing, about to examine it in more detail, until she sees that glint of light.

And then it promptly decapitates her with a low 'gurk'. Her body promptly drops the clothing as she topples over, dead on the spot.

The only warning the murderer might have that something might be up is a faint trail of golden hexagonal energy floating away from the corpse on the spiritual plane, kind of like a line of honeycomb.

ON THE SHADOW WORLD:

Riva reappears... At the mountain.

She swears, and begins running back towards the town. This is going to take a while.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     "Huh? Well...okay." Lyner nodded. If the chaos he was hearing on the radio was any indication, he was needed elsewhere. That left the rest of them to speak with Laurence. And what was Riva doing? He thought he heard a weird sound on her end, but he couldn't comment on it right now.

     Laurence meanwhile listens to Yuna. He nodded along, giving her his full attention. The mention of 'King Arnest' is met with a quirk of the brow, and then nothing. "I see...so this King Arnest led his troops to Mount Luminous in the distant past, fought the Einherjar and the Incarnations, and took the power of God for himself."

     He steepled his fingers together calmly, looking contemplative. "...So they are attacking this place in order to retrieve the power of God from humanity, which you imply resides here in Lucrelia?" He raised his gaze to them then. "...And what of it? What is to be done now?"

     MOUNTAIN

     Eir's attack was successful...but it seemed like it played right into Caster's hand. She really was controlling the momentum of this fight from the very beginning. Einherjar she may be, but even she wasn't completely impervious to poison. At first, she dove forward, aiming to cleave into Caster and take her out before it affected her. There was no escape, so why bother? At tht moment however, Archer appeared and Rho Aias was deployed. ".....!?" She stumbled just before the shield, confused beyond reason. Where did this come from? And that man in red, she recognied him, but where did he come from too!?

     Well, good news, and bad news. Good news? The poison was staved off. Bad news? SANARY COMES BARRELING IN and Eir is grabbed and picked up.

     Scooped up into the healertank's arms, she was picked up like a sack of potatoes, silently protesting and banging an arm against Sanary's back. ...but wait, Rin had grabbed on too! Were they going to end up spiraling across the mountain sky like this!?

     MEANWHILE

     The Incarnation statues fully came to life. The first to step out of it's indent is a massive white golem wreathed in an azure glow. Each step it took shook the temple.

     TIME TO GO.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     RIVA

     From the shadows steps a certain maid, casually adjusting a pair of specialized black gloves. "....." Well, it looked like the little burglar was dead.

     But what was that golden light?

     .....Well whatever. Time to clean up this damn mess. With a sigh, she knelt down and pulled the corpse aside for disposal.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"The God whose power was stolen almost certainly wants it back," Yuna continues, her smile fading - not vanishing all at once, but ebbing noticeably. "Stealing the power of a deity is a deep sin, and immortal beings tend to hold grudges. If that power is still in Lucrelia - and we have no reason to believe it's elsewhere - then the God of this land will continue sending Incarnations to attack the city until that power has been reclaimed .. and given what we've seen of the Incarnations, it's unlikely that they'll spare innocents who happen to be in the way."

Yuna's smile fades further, finally replaced by a serious and somewhat worried look, as she continues, "If the bearer of the stolen power does not relinquish it, fully and voluntarily, then everyone in Lucrelia is in mortal danger. The stolen power *MUST* be returned to this land's God, or God will destroy this city and everyone in it to take that power back."

If challenged, this is admittedly the part where she no longer has certainty to support her words from what the group has seen or otherwise learned .. but everything holds up. The Incarnations *HAVE* been attacking Lucrelia, and this is the most likely explanation. If Laurence really is King Arnest the Third, this is the point where he admits it - one way or another - or doubles down on his deception.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "I'll find out when it happens!" Sanary's not lying, at least. Rin does seem to have struck a sore point for her at comparing her acts to becoming like Archer, but the healer will have to come up with a witty retort later. First things first: Getting Eir out of there!

     The good news is that she's actually able to get a firm hold on Eir (albeit with some painful banging on her back). The bad news is that Sanary's lack of overall speed means Rin's able to get a hold of her legs before she even gets out of there. Although that doesn't actually cut off her ability to power the anklets hidden in her greaves, it does throw off her ability to aim her flight properly.

     "Seriously...? Well, hold on if you don't wanna die!" Anyone watching the mountain might see a weird mass coming out of it, steadily at firstm then spirakling around in midair wildly. It dips and rises erratically, and even starts picking up speed after a while!

     There may also be projectile vomit involved. How nice.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako's eyes stare as Rin uses a Command Spell. That's an investment! They really must want to stop her. Sanary also informs her this is her second one, so that glove does little to obscure facts-- she only has one left. ... unless Rin has more than three. A possibility! Gudako has five left, after all, but then again she has two Servants and made a very weird wish.

    Caster winds down, and she can't do much of anything anymore; Archer likely has more strength than she does despite tanking that Noble Phantasm. Therefore, it's best not to stay. Also, well. Incarnations. Everywhere.

    With some effort, the blue-robed foxgirl produces a pair of talismans with PHASE on them, applying one to herself and one to Gudako, not really realizing the former is kind of redundant. And then they leave.

    By walking through the walls.

    This effect would fail completely if they were trying to enter a place that was magically warded, but conveniently, they're inside Caster's Bounded Field, and as long as they avoid the protected rooms or the Well they should be fine. By the time they're out, they'll have new charms on to blend in with the snow, and get back to the Warp Gate. It's a bit of a hike, but they'll manage. Maybe they can keep an eye on Sanary if their route allows her, but Caster isn't in a shape to help.

    LUCRELIA:

    Berserker perks up, as things become serious. It seems she's receiving instructions, because as she speaks she sounds just a little bit more lucid than she usually does. Less, uh... childish. "Ah, master says if King Arnest was smart and somehow still alive, he would contact the Confederacy~. That's a weird hypothetical what-if, huh?"

    And then she grooms herself. Well, the back of her hands, which she then takes to her hair. Shapeshifted or not she can't help it.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Lyner nodded at Yuna and looked to Laurence. "If you know anything about what's happening, then please, tell us. It could e intrsumental to saving this city and solving the problem." He said urgently, stepping forward. He'd elected not to sit.

     Laurence was silent for a long while. And then slowly, a shook his head. "That's quite a shame. But Yuna...that is your name, right?" He canted his head aside a tad. "...Why do you sound so accusational? It almost sounds as if you're blaming me for something."

     Straightening up, he sighed. "But that can't be the case. After all, I've been here this entire time."

     Berserker gets up and leaves, with that totally not subtle message at all, and Laurence just blinks. ".....Well, that's an amusing one. She's more energetic than when I last saw her."

     He was denying everything, but...Riva found something, didn't she?

     Shame she was currently kinda dead, huh?

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LUCRELIA

     Berserker may also find a folded spare maid uniform sitting on a chair on the way out.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna twitches a bit as Bersercat extends that 'offer'. She suppresses her reactions beyond that, though - bad enough that the potentially still-alive Arnest could reach out to the Confederacy; that would just escalate everything about the conflict ... maybe beyond her ability to do anything about it.

So she remains focused on Laurence. Actually, actively, *looking* at him - studying the features of his face, matching them up with the vision of the past which Eir shared from the Well. She'll want Elner to help confirm it, but for now, Yuna is ascertaining that for herself.

"Yes ... if our information is right," Yuna says softly, "you've been here the 'entire' time." She rises to her feet, bowing formally - almost *too* formally - to Laurence. "At any rate, we have reported our findings and our understanding of their meaning. If you believe no further action is required, that is your decision as the captain of Lucrelia's garrison. You know how many lives hang in the balance if the city comes under attack again, far better than I could count them up."

She wishes, deeply, that she could do more than merely try to persuade Laurence. That she could somehow force him to show his hand, to admit that he has the stolen holy power, *something* that might let her convince him better to relinquish the stolen power.

But if he's genuinely innocent, she really *can't* do anything except try to hunt down the real thief of God's power. ... Apart from Gudako, that is.

Archer (821) has posed:
     MOUNTAINS:

     At this point... Archer looks rather clearly like he has seen better days. The Aius' seventh petal was in the process of being eroded away before the poison attack was finally nullified, the Servant of the Spell living up to her reputation as the aspect of a Goddess.

     Archer's posture is slightly slumped as a result of the exertion, grasping his left shoulder in automatic response to the pain. The poison has all but mangled his left arm, leaving multiple sores across it that have split into bleeding lesions, portions of his sleeve darkening as they gradually dampen with fresh blood.

     The bowman though, in spite of his injuries, seems to be smiling grimly. "So... that's the mythical stone born from the death of a goddess-turned-mortal? It's impressive - even the Aias was strained to the limit just to stop it."

     He narrows his eyes as Caster takes Gudako out of harms way, not exactly being in much of a state to prevent her departure. Even if he was, those phasing charms weren't something he could likely counter off-hand.

     The girl was certainly a slippery one. Even after all that had happened, Archer couldn't recall one instance where anyone had managed to so much as injure her. Still, it seemed they had stopped her from coming away with anything this time - more then anyone else had done. And maybe 'Eir' could tell them what exactly was possible with the other fragments.

     ...

     Of course, he had to catch up with her. And with so many of the Incarnations waking up, no less.

     Hardly taking the time to register the surreality of how the trio had left, Archer opted to simply curse his luck as he gave chase after them, pursuing them as quickly as possible. Even if he was in better straights then Caster was, he couldn't fire his bow with one arm injured like this - and even if he could, he would run the risk of hitting Rin or 'Eir'.

     All he can do is chase after them like a loyal hound in what is now shaping up to be a demented game of 'catch the Einherjar.'

Archer (821) has posed:
     IN FLIGHT:

     ... no. No, no, no! "Oh, GOD, NO - NOT AGAAAIN!!"

     At this point, Rin rather quickly goes from a determined Magus to a half-panicked girl clinging to Sanary for dear life. "What is it people and relying on some hell-spawn's brainchildren as a viable form of transport?! Sanary-San, are you insane?!? It's over! There's no reason to-" when she sees what the Cleric is trying to do though - namely fly out in spite of being in a near-uncontrolabe state - the magus' face turns paler then the snow. "No, no, no - wait! WAIT!! Don't you dare-!!!" What follows as they shoot for the exit and blast out of the mountain is something of a feminine shriek that sounds almost like a mangled exclamation of "We're going to die!!!"

     At this point, Rin digs her reinforced fingers into Sanary's armor to try and grip on harder, casting something of a borderline-desperate look at 'Eir'. "Can you fly?! Please tell me you can fly?!?!"

     ...

     Depending on the answer, Rin with either opt to just hold on as hard as she can until the mercenary eventually lands somewhere if she responds 'no'... or try to pound Sanary's leg until the rockets give out if she says 'yes', basically trusting that if 'Eir' gets free that she'd save them. And by 'them', Rin meant both of them, since she'd catch Sanary herself - enemy though she was... she wasn't about to just let Yari's friend die like that. She owed her that much.

     Of course... that was assuming she was strong enough to break Sanary's armor. Even reinforced, it wouldn't likely be easy.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Eir was having a very hard time believing that this was actually happening. Did she really just get grabbed and flown off out of her home? Was there seriously someone hanging from her captor's legs? Were they really spiraling through the air like mad?

     Yes. Yes they apparently were.

     Damn it all!

     Eir's wings flapped wildly, and she continued hitting Sanary's back with her balled up fists. A shame she'd dropped her sword back at the temple out of surprise at all of this. If the Einherjar could speak, she'd probably be saying 'Let me go!', but she could only say it with her eyes.

     Rin's question from below is heard and Eir blinked once. Then twice. "......" After processing the inquiry, she nodded. Of course she can fly. Those wings weren't just for show!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     In-between bouts of spinning and occasionally raining vomit on anyone unfortunate enough to be below them, Sanary's actually able to maintain enough control to speak properly and see where she's going! Barely. It's hard to really pay attention to that when she's got both a crazy Einherjar and a suicidal Magus whacking her, though. "Freaking... Are you two trying to get us all killed?!"

     Her armor's holding strong against those whacks, but with Rin dragging her legs down and pounding the hell out of one? That leg is getting worn down from the constant impacts, and she's barely able to keep the spinning from going completely out of control with only her other leg actually directing the magitech anklets.

     Their general flight path (if it can even be called that) is taking them vaguely closer to the rendezvous point with Gudako and Caster at the warp gate, but it's just mostly out of control. They're also going higher. Much higher. Even Sanary's getting worried!

     "Hey, Rin? Nguh.... Who do you think's gonna get up first if we fall from up here?" She tightens her hold/shielded bear hug on Eir while pumping more magic into the AANS, increasing not only the speed of the spinning, but also the rate they're sort-of approaching the warp gate (and the velocity of the projectile vomit)!

     If it counts for anything, though, at least she's not willing to kick the Magus in the face just yet.

Archer (821) has posed:
     IN THE AIR: "I oughta ask /you/ that!!" Rin all but shrieks, wincing - if not outright trying not to gag - as some of Sanary's 'projectiles' graze against the flaps of her coat. "You do realize that you've probably just sparked another war here, right?!"

     However, she keeps enough focus on Eir to see the entity's response.

     ...

     Alright, then.

     A deep breath is taken, trying to still her nerves as Rin's steels herself for what is likely not going to be a pleasant next few minutes.

     "I don't think either of us, Sanary... so if I were you, I'd brace yourself!"

     The next instant, she angles her elbow against Sanary's leg and simply starts driving it down against the armor as hard as she can, the pounding of metal echoing out along with the tearing of fabric as some of the spikes cut through the Magus' coat and leave cuts along her arm.

     ON THE GROUND: Archer at this point has rather lost patience with Sanary Rondel - even before being forced to dodge around her little 'improvised bombardments' as he went, one arm hanging rather uselessly at his side.

     Still, for the sake of at least being prepared, he had still materialized Kanshou to use if it came down to a fight when he inevitably reached whatever destination Sanary was headed to.... though the path itself was vaguely familiar.

     So Caster's Master was trying to kidnap 'Eir'... even when doing so was guaranteed to destroy any fragile chance of even solving the mystery behind the conflict, let alone stopping it, as well as potentially spark a retaliatory war between this world's 'God' in the wake of resurgent human aggressions. All because of one girl's greed.

     If only he'd gone to the mountain himself first. If only Rin hadn't been so distrusting of him now of all times. The division wasn't needed anymore then the one Gudako had caused between the group's agendas... and now all he could do was play catch-up.

     He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Ugh.

     With all of this ridiculous spinning and turning, Eir could feel herself getting rapidly dizzy. Thankfully she hadn't eaten anything...probably in a long time. So there was nothing to vomit out. That would have been terribly disgusting!

     As Rin runs her gambit and Sanary puts more power into her flight, their trajectory turns, veering them...into the direction of the mountainside below. With the speed they were going, there would be a huge collision in 10-15 seconds.

     The Einherjar was too out of it to struggle anymore. Whatever Rin was going to do, she had better figure it out now!

     Because they would be making impact in 7...6...5...4...3...2...1...!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Hey, I tried-urghl... Trying to negotiate with her first!" Technically not a lie, but Sanary would leave that for Rin to judge on her own time. Her main priority was trying to sort out what direction they were moving in and preferrably not dying, after all! Hearing Rin's warning, however, the healer somehow manages a grin at the apparent challenge. She's not one to back down unless it's completely unwinnable, with Rin continuing her assault on that leg... No more time to hold back.

     Cutting the flow of energy to the AANS completely, the healer focuses all of her energy on pre-emptively healing herself even before impact. She also brings her hands away from Eir's front to instead latch onto the Einherjar's shoulders. Is she planning to use her to cushion that fall?

     Probably. Better then landing flat on her face! And certainly better than letting a potential resource be used by someone else.

Archer (821) has posed:
IN THE AIR: Rin had wanted to stop Sanary's escape... and in the end, it seemed to have worked too well.

     "Sanary... !" Rin half mutters, numbly aware that they are now in a rather dangerously-sharp descent angle, heart pounding loudly in her ears as she tries to think of something to do.

     Of course, at this point, she's left trying to counterbalance Sanary's actions - the woman was armored like a tank and was going to use Eir as a cushion?? Between the ground on impact and Sanary's armor crushing her from behind, even an entity like that was going to be hard-pressed to survive.

     "Damn it!!! Like I'd let you-!!"

     With Sanary's AANS now offline, Rin bets on having an easier time shifting the group's momentum and, as a result, grips onto Sanary's body as hard as she can and throws her own body-weight sharply in one direction, trying to shift them all enough so that Sanary and Rin are the ones facing the ground... though given how fast they're going, she might not be capable of doing more then just angling it so that all three might just have an equal risk of harm.

     The only thing she had left to count on now was Archer... and since he'd had yet to truly fail her, she desperately hoped he wasn't about to now.

Archer (821) has posed:
r
     ON THE GROUND: If Archer hadn't already been in a bad mood before, the moment his Master began spiraling with 'Eir' and Sanary towards the side of the mountain would most certainly have done so. As it was he found himself cursing darkly as he pushed every trace of prana he could into reinforcing his body enough to try and catch up.

     At this point, the only chance he had was to go for broke and try to catch the entire group, or at least stop them enough to make the fall non-lethal.

     But still - best to try and soften the blow as best he could even before that point.

     "I am the bone of my sword."

     The form of Kanshou evaporates away, streams of prana instead condensing into an ornate, almost decorative-looking vermilion longsword.

     Think ten steps ahead here. Calculate the trajectory - reinforce the body as needed - swords form under the skin of his limp left arm - don't stop moving.

     The blade in Archer's right hand ignites, crimson flames pouring out from it's elegant contours as he swings the tip forward.

     "Aestus Estus!"

     The explosion of wildfire shoots forward ahead of the Servant, impacting with the icy side of the mountain as the elements abruptly quench each-other in a massive explosion of smoke and steam - an impromptu air-cushion to try and soften the impact, even if the steam itself was probably at least hot enough to be uncomfortable even with the cold air.

     That done... Archer's next action is to focus all the prana he has left into his legs - and leap ahead in an all-out sprint, angling himself to try and catch the falling group. In this case, he would end up mostly grabbing Eir since she is the one facing the ground and, as a result, Archer himself.

     Not even a Servant is likely to stop the momentum of such a fall instantly, though, so catching the group will likely still send them crashing down the side of the mountain, though Archer will try his best to take the brunt of the impacts, resulting in in at least four of the ribs in his body breaking, along with his arm itself due to it already being in bad shape.

     A disturbing sound of creaking metal will also likely be heard, as some of the swords reinforcing the Servant's body will either break or warp enough to the point that the tips of a few might actually start poking out of his damaged limb like grotesque protrusions of bone.

     ... whatever the case, the Bowman is more then willing to bet his life on catching the group.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Sanary attempts to use Eir as a cushion for her fall. Though the Einherjar may have survived that, it would have been a terrible place to be in. Thankfully, Rin intervenes and uses her weight to shift the falling angle. As it was right now, all three of them would hit the mountainside equally.

     This was going to hurt.

     3....2...1...!

     And then suddenly, an explosion of flame hits the icy mountainside, immediately kicking up steam. The rapidly rising substance does much to break their fall. It was still going to hurt like hell, but at least now they weren't going to become almost paste.

     But the red bowman takes it even further. He uses his own body to attempt to catch them. Can he do it? In his condition? Yes, he was a Servant, stronger than any ordinary human, but this...could it work?

     They would have to find out now because impact was made. All three bodies collided with Archer, who likely was thrown back against the ground beneath, kicking up a cloud of snow in the process...

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     The landing is much rougher than Sanary expects even with that assistance from the mysterious explosion and Archer (as much as she'd hate to admit getting any assistance from him), and she can taste quite a fair amount of kidney and rib after the first few coughs. She doesn't get up right away, just groaning painfully and letting her healing magic keep her insides where they should be.

     She'd really like to just lie down for a while longer, but she can't stay there forever. Not with her leg going in-oh, that's not a direction her leg should be going in, should it? If nothing else, though, the healer's quite the persistent one! Grasping for Eir, she takes a deep breath before setting her non-busted foot down and redirecting her magic energy into the only working anklet, trying to do... Exactly the same thing that led them into this mess in the first place.

     Persistence! Still, anywhere's better than here, right?

Archer (821) has posed:
     The feeling of the impact differs between Master and Servant.

     For Rin, she is acutely aware of the steam rushing against her, drenching her clothes in condensation from the melted ice, followed closely by the jarring of her bones as they reach the end of their descent.

     For Archer, he is more painfully aware of his ribs cracking and breaking as they slam into the mountain and are pushed back a fair distance, all the way back into the snow at the edge of Aestus Estus' impact radius. His chest-armor cracked with the strain and tears were opened up in his red shroud as they skidded back into the white drifts.

     Furthermore, the swords beneath his skin, unable to withstand the entirety of the damage as Archer opts to use his presently-useless limb to blunt the impact, grinds loudly with the sound of warping steel as the tips of several burst out of his already-limp left arm. Blood trails out after the group as it small drops splatter across the snow or across the trio he worked to catch.

     ...

     Finally, though, as the snow kicked up from the impact settled back down, the coughing and breathless form of Rin manages to push herself up out of the tangle of bodies enough to check... and finds to her relief that the Bowman, at the very least, survived, even if badly injured.

     ...

     That and the fact that Eir was likely on top of Archer as well, the Servant's good arm having wrapped around her waist for the most part and just far enough to reach Rin's coat. The Servant in turn is leaking blood from the corner of his mouth from the impact, as well as from a cut in his temple, but after Rin confirms his question of "Are you alright?" with a shaky nod, he sports a more familiar grim smile... complete with cynical commentary; "Heh... you certainly don't like to lose, do you? Burning through a Command Spell... and then fighting with someone in mid-air... just for one person's sake? You really are... an impulsive one, aren't you, girl?"

     ...

     And then the pair take note of Sanary's actions, Archer's expression turning grim - though not entirely unsurprised - with Rin's becoming incredulous... and from there just plain angry. In fact, at this point, Archer could almost swear there's a vain visibly throbbing on Rin's forehead as the Tohsaka heiress pushes herself up as best she can and proceeds to simply deck Sanary in the head as hard as she can with her already-bleeding arm.

     "Are you /kidding/ me?!" Rin all but screams, looking almost like she intends to throttle the Cleric... and yet, she sounds far more concerned for Sanary then vindictive. "After all that, you really think you're going to try again?! What the hell is wrong with you, you idiot - can't you see you're in no state for it?!?! You don't even owe that lunatic anything, so why are you trying so hard to /die/ for her?!"

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     That impact, while no longer fatal, broke one of Eir's wings. Along with some internal damage, and bleeding in her hair. She must have hit her head, because she was firmly unconscious.

     She'd survive, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was what these three were going to do now. In this state.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     By the time Sanary's able to move anywhere with that single anklet, Rin could probably just walk right up to her to catch up. And she does! The healer winces at the whack to the head despite it not hurting too much, but it does keep her from even bothering to fly any further for the moment! Instead, she sighs and lets go of Eir, settling back to sit on the ground in a more comfortable position.

     "Hey, I tried. Can't say I didn't now." The healer laughs painfully and coughs out some blood, smacking her lips a few times at the taste of kidney coming back. Time to circulate some magic in that general region again. "I'm not trying to die for her. I like not being dead. But..."

     She looks from Rin to Archer, squinting at him for a moment before laying back on Eir. A convenient pillow! "Tell me. What /do/ you expect me to do, then? You know who I work for, right?"

Archer (821) has posed:
     Rin's arm at this point is stinging rather badly - between the cuts and scrapes along her forearm and elbow, her hand now ached from punching against reinforced steel. However, she didn't seem as concerned about that as she is about Eir, Archer and, in spite of the unwanted trip, Sanary.

     Archer in turn, while breathing painfully through grit teeth, tightens his own grip around Eir's body to keep Sanary from prying the Einherjar away easily. Just looking at him was enough to say that the Servant didn't seem afraid to die if he didn't back down.

     However, when Rin opted to spare another glance at her Servant's state... what caught Rin's eye in that moment was, ironically enough, Archer's face. Or rather, his hair.

     Be it from the steam or from hitting the snow, Archer's hair, drenched with water, had fallen out of it's normally slicked-back trademark state, his bangs falling loosely over his head in a way that seemed to frame his features with a slightly more youthful appearance then normal. Additionally, because of his bleeding temple... some of his bangs had been stained as red as his coat, adding to the familiarity of the sight.

     In this state... coupled with the look of grim determination - and under that, traces of concern evident even though the pain he must have been in - set into his expression... he looked so very much like-

     "To answer that... I'll ask you a question in turn; /why/ do you work for them?"

     The memory of Archer in life - or who he had once been at least - fades a bit for Rin as his question, while directed at Sanary, snaps the magus back to the present. She turns back to Sanary, keeping an eye on the Cleric even as Archer keeps speaking - "What exactly makes it so worthwhile to you, potentially being known as a warmonger? What do you hope to gain?"

     Rin, pausing for a moment, sighs and shakes her head as she remembers what Sanary told her, a question of her own coming to mind as she actually falls back into the snow alongside Sanary, clutching her bleeding limb. "Tell me something, Sanary - what if the people you work for ask you to do something you don't want to? Tell me just /how/ far is 'too far' for you?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary sighs lightly as neither of them actually answers her question. She's blaming Archer entirely for it, of course, but that bloody arm does draw just enough sympathy from the healer to toss a bit of regenerative magic Rin's way. It won't fix much more than bruises or cuts over time, but at least it might ease the pain and bleeding somewhat.

     Archer, meanwhile, gets nothing. SHE'S STILL SPITEFUL.

     "You know I used to be completely blind?" She gestures at her eye, then feels along Eir's side while looking the being over for any blatantly obvious injuries. "If it wasn't for the Confederates, I'd be back home and probably one of those zombies /someone/ blew up." She's not very subtle about that one.

     "No job, pretty much useless outside of healing, maybe even captured by raiders. Not much work in my world for blind people unless you're one of those crazy-awesome blind fighters."

     Another sigh, and she sits back up, actually turning around to get a better look at Eir properly, a stern look on her face. "Are you expecting me to just betray them?"

Archer (821) has posed:
     Archer sighs as he notes Rin's injuries healing but his own remaining untouched. "Hate me if you wish... but do you really believe that, had I done nothing, the outcome would have changed?"

     Whe Sanary explains her situation a bit, he tilts his head... and if anything, he seems strangely sympathetic to what she is saying, somehow, even if his words remain those of a cynic; "And that means you should be indebted to them for the rest of your days? Overruling even yourself for the sake of their goals?"

     Then... he actually does say something that reflects some degree of empathy. "That's how I started out, you know. Perhaps not the exact same circumstances, but I too used to be powerless to affect my situation or that of the world around me... but in the end, I paid a price no-one should have ever paid to try and change something that couldn't be changed."

     At this point, he lets out a grim chuckle - a breathless, humorless, self-patronizing one at that. "Another naive fool who believed that he could save everyone if he only had the strength... and now I carry a debt that can only ever end with my existence itself being erased. So I do know something about what it means to be indentured." He now fixes the Cleric with a more inquisitive look, as if trying to see through her. "Are you really willing to pay that price?"

     Rin in turn shakes her head when Sanary asks if the magus expects Sanary to defect. "No. I just want to know if you're even capable of saying 'enough is enough' anymore - if there's still a line you won't cross just because they tell you too. You said you don't intend to betray people... but you have friends in the Union, right? And in neutral lands like Dun Realtai. And with people like Lezard and Gudako... you realize they're going to either be your enemies or maybe be in the crossfire, right? I'm asking what you're going to do if you end up having to make a choice between what you want and what they want from you?"

     After a few moments, Rin lets out another long sigh, looking at Sanary with something of a pleading look. "Please... before anyone else comes here and it becomes a fight again, get out of here. I'll tell them we couldn't stop you." And it wasn't really a lie, though Archer privately mused that he /probably/ could still make the effort if he pushed himself.

     His Master truly had become soft-hearted, had't she? The question though was whether this was for her own sake, Sanary's, or that of Yari Takane?

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Doesn't mean I can't still be pissed at you for it." Sanary actually smirks just a bit at that, although it fades rather quickly. "And don't forget about that time you stabbed me. Could've at least said 'hi'. Besides. It's not like they're completely wrong." She stretches her arms out and braces her hands on her busted leg, taking a moment to psyche herself up before snapping it back into place with a painful scream and crunchy crack.

     She then proceeds to curse like a sailor. Thankfully, it doesn't take that long until she just devolves to muttering it instead, then directing healing magic into that. "There's... Ugh, bad idea. There's only so much you can do until you stop being able to help everyone and just fail 'em all instead. So... I'm just focusing on helping the important people. My friends. The ones that helped me."

     She almost looks like she's going to stand, but drops back down a moment later. "If there is a line? Haven't hit it yet." She chuckles lightly and pulls that leg to her chest (or as much as she can with that armor on). "And my friends on the Union side have shot at me plenty of times, so don't give me that. I still go to class and chat with 'em no problem. Besides, those two aren't dumb enough to go after anyone in neutral territory."

     Right. She still needs to get that hoodie. She looks from Eir to Archer and Rin again, then shakes her head and waves a hand dismissively. "I ain't going anywhere any time soon. You two should probably go before they think you're letting me off easy, though."

Archer (821) has posed:
     At this point, Archer's expression becomes both grim yet questioning. "Would you have acted any different if told not to? If our positions were reversed and you thought I was a danger... would you hesitate to do the same? Hate me if you want, but I do not hold a grudge against you, Sanary Rondel. I only did what I thought was necessary. In that... you and I aren't truly that different."

     The question is a veiled one - 'how far can you go before you end up like me?'

     "Lezard Valeth invaded Dun Realtai, attempting to take Emiya Shirou" Archer states coldly, with Rin going ridged as she recognizes too late where her Servant is taking his train of thought. "If he invades the town itself for the boy and you are assigned to him - if you helped him make Linh's home a battleground because of Confederacy agendas... how exactly would you justify that to her? How would justify to Yari if something happened in the crossfire that you couldn't control?"

     It's a barbed statement, but one that seems to hold genuine curiosity to it... and maybe even genuine concern. "Can you guarantee, here and now, that if the 'important people' get in the way of your orders, you would make the correct choice? You have a smaller world to protect - a world comprised of those close to you - but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes being obligated to something carries a high toll... and every day you might be asked to pay it."

     "Don't drag Linh into this" Rin states, her voice sounding rather soft now - subdued anger or maybe just adamant to not see anyone hurt. "She's just a kid."

     "I wouldn't try to, nor would I want to" Archer replies evenly, still looking at Sanary. "I simply want to know if Sanary understands how little good intents can prevent obligations from making the choice for her."

     Rin winces at the statement. She winces even more when Sanary states she hasn't hit her 'line' yet, in spite of everything she'd done here and on Hyrule... and when Sanary states she's not going anywhere, she sighs to herself and nods her head. "Alright, then. But we'll be taking her back with us. After all that, she's going to need treatment and we don't know how her body works - we'll have to take her back to the mountain, probably... unless those things are coming for her even as we speak."

     At this, she gives her own version of a wry smile, making Archer once again comment to himself how his Master can be terrifying at times as she does her far-too-sweet-looking smile. "You're braver then I am, Sanary-San - asking us to leave you out here when Incarnations are probably going to be looking for us all... I'm not sure I'd enjoy facing them all myself. Especially if I didn't have a way to placate them like giving them back their... leader, I guess. But if you want us to go and leave you here without a bargaining chip, suit yourself."

     With that, Rin shakily pushes herself up to her feet and proceeds to try and help Archer and the unconscious Eir back up... or at least as best they can with Archer's dead arm and broken ribs while Sanary insists on using the entry as a cushion.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     So he /was/ dumb enough to go after someone in neutral territory. Sanary actually looks caught off-guard when she hears that, a long sigh escaping her after few moments. "I'm going to have to talk to him about that. That's..." She looks from Archer to Rin slowly, then Archer once more before letting out frustrated groan and adjusting her eyepatch. "... Thanks for letting me know."

     That's probably got her more irritated than anything else today.

     At the comment about Eir, she takes one more look at the Einherjar before waving a hand dismissively. "Eh, take her. Not like anyone else is up here yet." She takes a quick look around to make sure, of course, and even pushes herself up carefully while using the riot shield to balance on. "Can't promise we won't be coming back for her, but... Eh. You know how it is."

     The healer sighs and raises an eyebrow slowly at Rin's last comment, what little humor was still on her face fading rather quickly. She doesn't look too happy about having to face all those things on her own.

     "...Yeah, I'm coming with."

Archer (821) has posed:
     Archer sighed at how Rin actually looked pleasantly surprised that Sanary was unaware of what Lezard did. Like she'd regained some hope that the mercenary had a moral compass after all. "You're welcome, Sanary-San" Rin replies. "And... when you get the chance, maybe you could let Yari-San and her daughter know, too? If nothing else, they'll know to look out for something - maybe even get out of the crossfire before it happens."

     Archer /could/ voice surprise that Rin would give such an option to an enemy and her friends, but given his current state, even he has to admit that it's best not to drag anything on.


Additionally, Rin also gives something of an appreciative smile at Sanary's words - "Thanks for the heads-up." She also can't help but laugh a bit when Sanary opts to tag along on getting Eir back to the mountain. "Well, like I said - I wouldn't want to be alone with that many of those things myself, either."

     "Maybe next time you'll let me do what should have been my job in the first place" Archer snips, moving very carefully since his broken ribs are only being kept from piercing his own lungs by an internal cast of swords. "Most Masters can't wait to let their Servants do all the work for them."

     "If I'd done that, you'd probably have just fired off an arrow and blown the whole mountain up" Rin deadpans. "I'd like to see how you think we'd stop a war after doing that."

     "One side would be gone, so there would hardly be much of a war" Archer replied offhandedly, using the chance to finally smooth back his hair to it's original state so as to not resemble a certain boy any longer. From Sanary's viewpoint, this might look amusing how quickly Master and Servant get absorbed in their trading blows with each-other, making others feel like they're watching a comedic routine.

     "And I thought Caster's Master was the one repeating history" Rin mutters. "Let's just get back to the mountain, get her home and then try to get out of the cold." She glances back to Sanary, as if regarding a stubborn classmate - yet there's something of a half-bemused smile on her features. "All of us, right?"

     And so, Archer wearily proceeds on their trip to get at least far enough up the mountain to return Eir. After which, they will either return to the group down below or just make straight for the warpgate. Either way... it has been a very long day that Master and Servant will both likely be feeling for a while.