Siege of the Roswaal Mansion

—

I'm excited to write this! More so than usual! Released early because I've been skimping on my due date for these recently.

—

Subaru casually breathed in the crisp non-so-morning air. The sun isn't yet at it's peak, so long shadows are dancing along the clearing that he is in. Around him are the carriages that will be transporting the Arlam villagers once again. Their departure this loop is a tad (~30 minutes) earlier than the recent loops. Excluding Subaru's first loop and the Envy loop where everyone died.

"Subaru, why don't we wish them well?"

"Eh, we should. Don't know why I'm trying to stall."

I know why I'm trying to stall, but Emilia doesn't need to worry about the happenings at the mansion. The half-elf in question was sticking rather close to him as they saw the villagers off. Subaru couldn't help glancing at her every now and then. The not-quite-morning sun filtered beautifully through her snow-white hair.

Having intentionally avoided them, Subaru knows exactly where they are. Turning completely around, Subaru finds the pair within seconds. The two of them are chatting next to a carriage, the conversation looks important. But Natsuki Subaru wouldn't be Subaru Natsuki if he wasn't going to barge right in.

"-although during the carriage ride, would you mind showing- Oh, Subaru, finally stopped standing around?"

"Oh har har, you're lucky I'm even taking the time to see you guys off."

"I wonder when you two got so close?"

Emilia leans in close to Subaru's side, smiling. Her hair spills from her shoulder as she leans. Cute.

"Well, being held prisoner is a crisis, and they say a crisis strengthens bonds so…"

Subaru raised his hand to the sky in a victory pose. Emilia backs up to allow him room.

"Ignore all that! I don't need circumstance to be the best friend-maker there is!"

"Subaru-kun's friends do all the dirty work though."

"While that is true I'm going to ignore that! Wait hold on… have I never done anything without help?"

While Subaru seriously tries to remember, everyone laughs a little at Rem's fun fact. It wasn't a big joke though, so everyone calms down quickly. Once she stops laughing, Rem walks over to Subaru and places a light peck on his cheek. Rem looks into Subaru's eyes for a second, her face red. The teen's face goes red as well, he backs up and hides his blush.

"Gah! Rem you can't just do that! Give me a warning!"

"Does Rem strike you as someone who is merciful?"

While the tone wasn't threatening, the wording and context is enough to strike fear into Subaru's heart. Meiss tries to hold in a laugh and ends up making a weird throaty sound. He looks at everyone's faces aimed at him and enters serious mode to cope with the sudden attention.

"Subaru, since we will be away and it's not certain when we will return, be ready with the 'lightshow' just in case."

"Them? Of course. Not really a plan but for here but it's the best we've got. Also, don't forget to give Beatrice my note. Please make sure that loli doesn't get lonely."

"Sure."

Emilia looks at Subaru and Meiss questioningly. She then makes her gaze over to Rem, who didn't look like she was in on what they were on the majority of what they were talking about. Emilia stopped leaning next to Subaru and stood up straight. Everyone here got reeeaaaally close. I feel left out. Subaru was still staring at Meiss, it was like a conversation was being exchanged between their very minds. Evidently that wasn't what it was, because after a few moments Meiss opened his mouth.

"Are you expecting a kiss from me too, Subaru?"

"OH HELL NO!"

Subaru took a threatening step forward and shouted at Meiss, who had a completely serious expression on his face. Seeing that Meiss had a serious expression, Subaru's shouts got even louder. Meiss' expression did break down though and he cracked a smile before facing away and stifling his laughter. Rem turned to Meiss and proudly declared:

"Rem refuses to lose this race to Meiss!"

"I'm gonna put up a fight Rem, Subaru's mine."

"Will you two STOP!"

Subaru tries in vain to stop them from teasing him further. Emilia takes a second to enjoy everyone getting along. Without me. The half-elf clenches her hands together to her chest, before turning around to leave. She doesn't really understand the sinking feeling in her chest, especially when Rem gave Subaru a peck on the cheek.

"Ho ho? Don't think you can get away that easily."

A warm wire wraps around the retreating Emilia's hand and gently draws her back in. The half-elf doesn't resist, happy that they didn't really forget about her. The orange-cyan wire pulls Emilia to Meiss, who grabs her shoulders and spins her to face Subaru and Rem.

"You haven't said goodbye yet, have you…"

Meiss leaned in closer, and whispered to the half-elf.

"Emilia, please don't push yourself too hard with the trial, mine was hell and I assume yours was too. You may be stuck here, but that doesn't mean you have to be completely miserable."

Meiss drew back. He may be able to remember, but that doesn't mean he has all the answers. He can see Emilia is a little off, but the trial is something that she must overcome herself. That's no reason to have her work herself to exhaustion.

Emilia stares ahead for a second longer before Subaru finally says goodbye to Rem. The oni tries to give him another peck, but he runs to hide behind Meiss. He seems to rethink that when Meiss purses his lips and hides behind Emilia instead.

"Emilia-tan, please protect me!"

"You two knock it off, poor Subaru is shaking like a scared puppy!"

Emilia raises her index finger and scolds Rem and Meiss, making them apologize. After that Subaru and Emilia leave hand-in-hand. Now the lightheartedness is behind Meiss and Rem, now they can talk in depth about the events fated to take place.

"'Events fated' really does have that nice ring to it. What about meiun? …Nah, it isn't the same."

"What is it Meiss?"

"Oh nothing, just rambling about nonsense. More important is what we will be doing when we get to the mansion. I have a few ideas but I would like to hear yours first."

Rem ponders for a second. Before Garfiel walks by. The boy looks at Meiss with scorn, opening his mouth for some snide comment probably. Meiss gives him an unintentionally hard stare, and Garfiel properly stops before he starts to walk up to Meiss. Although it isn't physical, the two have been openly passive-agressive of each other since yesterday. It baffles everybody, since they got along well enough after first coming here but before Emilia took her trial.

"Please, Rem understands you two have formed a negative opinion of each other but refrain from quarreling in front of the villagers."

Meiss' desire to annoy deflates upon Rem's statement, and Garfiel stops walking. The boy then pointedly turns around and walks to the head of the carriages. Rem sighs, and she climbs into the carriage they were next to. Meiss watches Garfiel for a second before joining Rem.

The blonde settles into a cross-legged sitting style. Rem sits with her legs folded under her. Meiss takes a deep breath and claps his hands on his thighs.

"Before we start planning, can you show me a map of the area? I can use acedia to scorch the floor for marking."

Meiss calls an acedia forth that extends from his back and hangs above the floor. Careful not to actually touch the carriage, the heat from the authority blackens a little dot on the bed.

"This will be the mansion. If you don't mind, please point to other places."

Rem points out a few places Meiss knows, and another he doesn't. Arlam village, right next to the mansion; Sanctuary, pretty far off and about two feet from the mansion; the mountain range that surrounds about half the mansion is a squiggle; and to the north is a blotch that Rem calls Elior forest.

"Though Roswaal-sama's mansion is surrounded by woodland, Elior forest is a proper forest with tall trees and lush plant life. If Rem remembers correctly though, it's about half covered in eternal winter."

"That's interesting, but it's too far away to really worry about. Since the demonbeasts accompanied Elsa it's safe to say she wouldn't need to worry about the forest around the mansion. That means she could be anywhere within walking distance… That doesn't help…"

Meiss ponders the map for a second, when a memory flashes. Beatrice was dropping us off at an escape tunnel.

"What about a secret escape passage? I know one exists but not where it starts or ends."

"Ah, Rem remembers that she is no longer under oath. The tunnel ends here, in the mountains. A simple cabin is there with provisions to sustain four people for two weeks. Roswaal-sama cast a strong illusion on the cabin, so only those with prior knowledge can find it..There is also a seperate storage unit underneath the mansion for the storage of volatile lagmite."

"And… There we go, map done. Now on to ideas… I have a pretty good idea that should work."

"Rem hasn't given this much thought herself, so please tell Rem."

"Ok then. Frederica will probably not trust me since… You know, I stink like the witch even more now. There is also the fact you don't have any relations anymore. So we'll say that we saw a pack of demonbeasts on the way to the mansion. The warding stones on that road will protect us, but the pack is pretty large and a concern. I'll say that I experienced the archbishop tingle and that it followed us, allowing us to use the excuse of a hostile archbishop tailing us and targeting the mansion. Now since the forest around the mansion is full of demonbeasts, those warding stones should be surrounding the mansion, right?"

"Yes."

"So we can have you check them under the pretense of worry, since the demonbeasts need just one opening to get in. If things go well, Frederica and Petra should be willing to cooperate with us. One of us should also check the escape tunnel hut. We can flesh out the details later if this plan is ok with you."

"Rem thinks it is quite a good plan for the little information we have. Though Rem is surprised that Petra is working at the mansion."

Meiss shifted so that his legs were folded and pulled in close to his body. This would be more comfortable for longer sitting.

"Did she have a different aspiration? My first time meeting her was at the mansion before the last memory."

"Ah, that is right. You didn't go with Subaru-kun, Emilia-sama, and Rem when we visited the Arlam villagers in the capital, so you are not acquainted with them. You were sulking in a guest room if Rem remembers correctly."

Meiss leans his head back and remembers that week at Crusch's mansion. It seems like forever ago, but actually only a little over a week has passed if you exclude being able to remember. Oh yeah, we figured out what the rock was made of. We still need to tell them the material; but we haven't had a chance and probably won't soon. Well, Crusch is kinda scary, so that rules out me delivering the news. Probably.

"Hey Rem."

"What is it, Meiss?"

"Exactly how much do I stink of the Witch?"

Rem puts a finger to her lips for a second before sniffing. It was a short sniff. Only a weirdo would take a whiff of someone's stink. Like Rem with Subaru.

"It's definitely more, but Rem's Subaru-kun still masks it."

"Hm."

A few minutes pass in silence with nothing being said. After talking about the Witch, Meiss has desired a subject change. Silence wasn't a subject change.

What to talk about. What to talk about…

"How are things going with Subaru?"

Rem blushes at the sudden question.

"S-slow. Subaru-kun is like a maiden with how little he is forward."

"Well, I've run out of things to talk about so goodnight."

Meiss slumps to the side and closes his eyes. Rem pouts at how easy he gave up on trying to talk. He didn't even give her time to turn the question back on him. Though Rem wouldn't have anyone to ask him about. He didn't particularly enjoy Crusch-sama's affection.

—

Meiss yawns into his hand. That was a bad nap, since he had a full-night's rest beforehand and was woken up rather abruptly by Rem. The sun is setting, so it's about six P.M. beyond the waterfall. Meiss doesn't remember exactly what time of day he arrived last time, but he knows they definitely departed Sanctuary earlier.

Ahead of him, Rem has stopped at the gate. She is waiting for the slow blonde to catch up. Meiss sighs and joggs to her. Unfortunately it seems only his memories travel back in time, so Meiss can feel the short run take more of a toll on his body than it would usually. I was just getting back into the running groove. Together they enter the mansion's expansive yard. A gentle, but warm, breeze tousles the grass in waves as they walk up to the mansion. Just like last time, Frederica opens the door to welcome the returning residents before they make it to the stairs.

"I was not expecting your return so soon, Meiss-sama, Rem-sama."

"Well, some things happened over at Sanctuary, Frederica."

Rem was the first to ascend the stairs with Meiss behind her.

"Rem's Subaru-kun convinced Roswaal-sama to release the villagers since Emilia-sama is within Sanctuary."

"I take it you know of the barrier then?"

"Yeah, while personally there were some things I didn't like that's not the problem. It's somewhere around dinner-time right? Mind if we talk afterwards? It's kinda urgent."

"Very well."

Meiss overtakes Rem, passing by the woman of the same height and walking farther into the mansion. Behind him, the blonde can hear Rem and Frederica talking like old peers. Well, they are. Meiss glances back before preparing to walk up the main staircase.

"Meiss-sama."

Meiss turns back to Frederica, who called his name.

"Yes?"

"We have a new maid-in-training, would you like to meet her?"

"Sure. So many new faces must make things lively around here, huh?"

"Certainly."

Meiss walks back over to Rem and Frederica, the latter of which walks off. After a short moment, she returns with the ginger maid Petra. The small maid performs a curtsy and introduces herself.

"I am Petra Leyte, a new maid here. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. The person before you is Rem, and this guy over here is Meiss Rhen."

"Pleasure to meet you, Petra."

Rem and Meiss both introduce themselves to the new maid. This time without awkward handshakes. After the introductions Petra informs them that dinner will be ready shortly and either she or Frederica will call them down.

From here, Meiss splits off to search for Beatrice while Rem follows Frederica to tell her about "some demonbeasts she saw."

Side-by-side, Rem and Frederica walk down the hall. Even though there is a great height difference, the sight of both of them is oddly scary. Like an iron wall that seems like it could crush you, but hasn't started moving. Namely, the potential to be formidable if they need to be.

"Rem should mention that on the way here we encountered a pack of demonbeasts. The warding stones protected us, but is there something like that for here?"

"I assume Subaru-sama told you about the wulgarm incident?"

"Yes."

"I assure you that we have precautions against demonbeasts, but if it would put you at ease we can check the warding stones tomorrow, Rem-sama."

"Thank you, that would be appreciated."

—

"Ahh…"

Meiss hangs his arms as he walks down the hallway. He had just spent the last fifteen minutes looking for Beatrice with no luck. Petra said that food would be done soon, so Meiss is giving up for now.

The blonde straightens his posture as he nears his room. It would be pointless to carry around Subaru's note and get it all wrinkled up. Meiss gently opens his door and bam… Forbidden Archive.

Seeing as Meiss just spent fifteen minutes looking and now she decides to show up, Meiss is a little agitated. He closes the door, waits a second, and reopens it.

"DON'T JUST CLOSE IT I SUPPOSE!"

"Oh hey Beatrice, didn't see you there."

"YOU MOST DEF- ugh."

Beatrice presses her hand to her forehead and Meiss takes a step into the library. The blonde glances around, picturing the toppled bookshelves, blood, and the beginnings of a fire.

"What are you looking for, I suppose?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering if you have any measures in place if there was ever a fire. Paper burns quite easily."

"Of course in fact! Betty is within the forbidden archive nearly all day, it would stand to reason that Betty's significant power could put out a simple fire I suppose!"

"Well, I won't be reading anything since I've got almost everything I need in my brain."

Beatrice looks up and regards Meiss like he is some animal that just ran into a glass pane. The spirit is nearly, or on par with Ram levels of judgyness. That glare could topple mountains. Meiss feels the intense need to defend himself.

"Hey, I assure you I'm actually quite smart! My life may be a blip when compared to yours, but age does not always correlate to knowledge! I'm sure there are super dumb old people!"

"I suppose… Just get to the point of why you are here in fact."

Meiss pulls two pieces of folded paper from his pocket and brandishes them like they have mystical power. Subaru's note and the color-coded periodic table.

"Of course my being here is related to chemistry; though if now isn't a good time I understand. The true reason though… Subaru asked me to 'make sure that loli doesn't get lonely.'"

"YOU'RE BOTH ANNOYING I SUPPOSE!"

Meiss smirks at Beatrice, who is slowly pushing him out of the library. This reaction was kind of expected of her type of character. He spreads his arms, akin to a leader performing a rallying speech.

"Subaru and I are quite familiar with the concept of 'tsundere.' It's only a matter of time until we break through your shut-in qualities! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!"

Beatrice closes her eyes and forces the annoying blonde out, shutting the door as well. She heaves a big sigh after that.

"Honestly, such nonsense I suppose. …?"

A piece of folded paper floats down to the floor. Beatrice climbs off her stool and walks over to the door. It's one of the folded papers that Meiss had.

To Beako

"So that idiot boy learned to write?"

—

Dinner, a glorious time of day.

Meiss has eaten this dish twice now, on each first day back. This time though, Rem is with him. The blonde had already immediately given his stamp of approval, but the blue oni has yet to. The ex-maid delicately places the last bite of potato into her mouth.

"Rem sees, with this Rem can give an honest answer."

Petra, brimming with confidence from Meiss' swift approval, can barely contain her eagerness for Rem's approval.

"It is excellent, though Rem can tell this was a beginner's work since she is an accomplished cook herself."

"Thanks, Rem-sama! I'm looking forward to getting really good at this stuff."

Frederica places a hand on Petra's shoulder. The two of them are smiling. Meiss takes a sip of water.

"This one is shaping up to be a promising maid. If I may ask, where did you get your cooking experience, Rem-sama?"

"Oh, Rem is- used to be a maid her- herself."

Meiss stops drinking when he hears Rem stumble over her words. It hasn't been two weeks since she lost her name to Gluttony. On the surface, she seems to be taking it well, but that is only the surface. Besides the crimson-headed Eura, Meiss didn't have any relations in this world. Rem has a sister, boss, peers, love interest… It makes sense this would bother her on a not superficial level.

Meiss stands up and grabs his plate, drawing attention to him and off of Rem.

"Everyone is done, yes? I can take the dishes and silverware and wash them today since you guys had to scramble and almost double the amount of food."

"Meiss-sama, there is no need."

"Thanks, but it kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth having other people pick up after me, if you understand."

Petra looks to Frederica as she looks at Meiss for a second. The blonde maid sighs.

"I do kind of understand, at least let me show you where everything is stored."

"Thanks Frederica."

—

Now in the kitchen, Meiss immediately brings the kitchenware over to the sink and sets them down. Frederica follows him into the kitchen and closes the door behind her.

"Am I right to assume this was to establish privacy for our conversation, Meiss-sama?"

"I really am going to wash the dishes, but yeah."

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Meiss turns his back to the sink and rests his arms on the sliver of countertop there. He looks at Frederica who is on the other side of the island. A blink, and the blonde can see her bleeding form as a dark silhouette on the surface.

For Petra… Definitely.

Blink, and Meiss is back in the present. How was Subaru able to deal with remembering so easily? Maybe he isn't. Maybe that's why he was crying with Rem on that sun-soaked platform.

But that's neither here nor now.

"Before we get into the meat of this, would it be a hassle to not ask Rem about her past?"

"Shouldn't she be the one to decide if her past is worth discussing?"

Meiss scratches the back of his head.

"That is valid, but the reason she stopped being a maid was rather… unpleasant."

"I see, and you know this how?"

"I didn't protect her well enough."

Frederica closes her eyes for a second before leaning on the island. She doesn't say anything so Meiss assumes she is waiting for him to start.

"Ok then… Just to preface this I'm going to be super blunt."

"Understood."

"You can smell it right, the Witch stink?"

"It came with you when you returned from Sanctuary."

Meiss looks up and sighs.

"That's what I thought. Truth be told I have an authority of sin; though the Witchcult and I are on hate-hate terms. The sudden increase is related to the Witch of Greed's tomb."

Frederica pauses to absorb this sudden information.

"I question your authenticity in this claim. Anyone can smell of the Witch, yet there are only seven authorities of sin."

That's valid. Meiss lets acedia flow from behind him and flop along the length of the island. It stops next to Frederica, who doesn't do anything in response.

"Is this magic you are familiar with?"

"…No."

"Ok. That information dump leads onto our true topic. On the way here, while traveling from Arlam to this mansion specifically, Rem and I observed a pack of demonbeasts. I am confident in the warding stone's protection, but the reason I am mentioning this is because I got a tingle."

"A tingle?"

Meiss turns his head to the side and points to the nape of his neck.

"When close in proximity, wielders of an authority can sense each other. This ability manifests itself as a sort of intense prickle or itch on the nape if I were to describe it. As if that wasn't bad enough, it followed us. The demonbeasts I mean. Holders of an authority must be either human, demi-human, something in between those two, or a spirit. What I'm trying to say is that I have suspicion that an archbishop with the authority to control demonbeasts is targeting this mansion."

Frederica closes her eyes and corrects her posture. She folds her arms and places a finger on her chin.

"That is… grave. What is the timeframe we should expect for this?"

"I would say about a week, since their damn gospels are actually pretty short-sighted. Actually just in case, does this place have any safe-houses or escape tunnels by chance?"

"There is one, either Petra or I will show you it's whereabouts tomorrow. Excuse me, I am going to check the warding stones that are currently guarding us."

"Thanks for not freaking out and attacking me after I said I had an authority."

"You had plenty of opportunities to harm everyone here yet never took them Meiss-sama. You also have the favor and friendship of Subaru-sama, the one who spearheaded the subjugation of the Hakugei and Sloth."

Meiss looks down.

"I didn't really do anything though."

"You bested Greed, and defeated Gluttony right? That is reason enough to place a certain amount of trust in you."

—

Corny narrator: Two days have passed. These days were fruitful in preparation for the impending struggle to be had at the Roswaal mansion. Now, our teenager is waking from a dreamless night…

Meiss slowly blinks his eyes open as early morning sunlight filters through his window. He sits up in his bed, placing the time stone he sleeps with on his bed-side table. Meiss fully departs from his bed and walks over to the dresser in his room. There is a small mirror above it. Meiss can see his messy and poofy bed hair sticking up all over the place.

He brushes it, relishing in the feeling of having straight hair for this small period of time. The blonde's hair usually takes a half-minute to curl back up after brushing. Reaching behind him, Meiss pulls down his hair. It reaches a little past the bottom of his neck, not much though.

"I have proper shoulder-length hair."

Not a problem.

Meiss stops messing with his hair, leaving it to curl back up in the back. He opens his drawers and takes a look at his attire. The only proper clothing I have is my sweater and bubble-vest. Everything else is Ferris's set of hand-me-downs or sleepwear. Meiss shrugs off his current sleepwear and puts on a set of less sleepwear-looking sleepwear.

It's been two days. Mental checklist go. Warding stones: good condition. Access to volatile lagmite: granted. Use of that lagmite: yard destruction in progress.

Meiss was initially hesitant to use the volatile lagmite since they would deform the land and possibly damage the mansion. Frederica had been having no reserves though, and was adamant in defending their lives with little regard to building and landscape damage. She even went so far as to say that even if the mansion was destroyed, they could move into Roswaal's main mansion.

Roswaal is richer than Meiss originally thought.

In that talk, Meiss also inquired about the mainstream spells that others often used so that he could better understand what fighting force they had. So he had learned the basic offensive spells of each element minus Yin and Yang, as Frederica didn't know.

Currently, Meiss is briskly walking down the hall to where he, Rem and Frederica had been discussing plans. It was a little side room used for lounging, ironic since everything that had been taking place within involved pseudo-war discussions.

Rem and Frederica were already there and seated. Meiss sits in one of the chairs around a small circular coffee table and leans forward, ready to start this discussion.

"As Meiss-sama knows, the woodland surrounding the mansion is heavily populated with demonbeasts. My heightened senses tell me that we are surrounded. Setting up deterrents and traps in advance was the obvious play as we are heavily outnumbered."

"I have to thank that nose of yours, to think you could transform into a giant leopard really stunned me. So first off, we decided that Rem will be on the mansion's roof and using water magic to attack."

Currently at the mansion, Rem is the most skilled in magic. Frederica can also use magic, but it is of lower quality and she is a primarily close-combat fighter like Meiss.

"Rem will also be responsible for setting off the fire lagmite placed around the yard. Second, and you have been doing this well, Frederica with her heightened senses is our primary form of surveillance."

Even though Rem has a heightened sense of smell, Frederica with her ancestral return can smell further away and with more clarity. This is also coupled with her heightened eyesight and hearing.

"And then I will be responsible for trying to cut off the head."

While lacking in ranged capabilities, Meiss is a strong close-range fighter. He would be responsible for fighting the ringleader while everyone else fends off the demonbeasts. Still only Meiss and Rem know that Elsa is going to attack. So Meiss is volunteering to possibly take on two different opponents.

Meiss crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

"This… I have never planned something like this so thank you girls for helping with the planning. We are still open to suggestions; I'm all planned out so don't expect anything from me."

Frederica reclines in her chair to think. Rem shoots off a suggestion.

"While Rem's magic is average-"

"Low-high."

"…Low-high, Rem's mana reserves run out quickly, so a few mana lagmite would be nice. In addition, some fire crystals on-hand would help if the beasts are too tightly packed for Rem to shoot the explosive stones with el huma. Rem also wonders if Meiss tried to ask Beatrice-sama to help?"

"That's a no go, she refused again."

Rem, finishing her suggestion, returns to sitting on her chair. Her and Meiss look to Frederica, who ponders in silence for a second more before reentering the conversation.

"We could fell the trees close to the mansion's surrounding wall, this would give us a line of sight in advance to them breaking through the warding stones. We could also plant warding stones in the yard to increase the effectiveness of the bombs. Another idea would be to place gravel over the fire lagmite to create small missiles."

Meiss puts his hand to his chin and mulls over Frederica's proposals. They were all good.

"That all seems excellent, but we can't surround the entirety of the fire lagmite in gravel since that would risk us damaging ourselves."

"Then let's put these revisions into action, Meiss-sama, Rem-sama."

"Then Rem decrees this meeting adjourned."

—

It's been about twenty minutes since the "war council" ended. The mansion residents immediately put everything into action. Most of the explosives had already been planted the day before and only two or three remained. Rem and Frederica had been planting the warding stones in the ground around the fire lagmite to constrict the demonbeast traffic to near the explosives, so Petra is left to show Meiss the way to the escape tunnel.

In comparison to everything, the escape tunnel was one of the least urgent things on the list.

Meiss is using acedia to easily cut down the trees in a seven meter distance from the mansion's wall. He doesn't even notice Petra come up behind him until she tugs on his sleeve.

"Meiss-sama, we're going to check out the evacuation tunnel, correct?"

"Oh, small child. Let me get this tree before we go."

The tree stood no chance.

The two shorties enter the mansion and make their way to a certain room.

"Is this the clown's study?"

"Yes, the tunnel is on the other side of those bookcases over there."

Petra briefly points to a bookcase that is flush with the other bookcases next to it. Together they make up one wall. The ginger maid walks over to a statue and flips up the head. Her body is blocking his vision, so Meiss assumes she presses a button or pulls a lever or something, because the bookcase suddenly swings inwards. Meiss peers into the dark tunnel for a second before Petra activates a lamp on the wall, revealing a spiral staircase.

The statue is kinda cliche, but I'm thankful we have this to lean back on just in case.

Petra walks down the stairs, and Meiss follows. The maid activates the lamps as they go, illuminating the way ahead. They would probably be able to make their way down without the lamps because of a dull ambient light coming from somewhere. So the lamps must be for ease of travel.

"Small child."

"Could you have chosen a worse nickname?"

"Probably if I thought hard enough… I just wanted to say that if anything goes wrong we are prioritizing getting you out of here."

They reach the bottom of the staircase. There is a small room with a door at the opposite end. Wide enough for two Meiss' to stand with their arms spread out. Petra turns to face the blonde with an annoyed expression on her face.

"I feel totally useless since you guys won't let me help! I'm basically an adult now, I don't see why I can't!"

She crosses her arms and stands in front of Meiss. Meiss can remember her upbeat and semi-rebellious attitude from the week in his memory, so he was wondering when something like this would happen. The blonde stops and looks at Petra.

"How old are you?"

"Almost thirteen! That's an adult!"

Meiss sighs, she was a tad older than he thought. Meiss himself was only a few weeks into the age of sixteen when he was nabbed on the sidewalk. He can sympathize with Petra's rebellious nature and desire to show her maturity, but like it or not, she is still a kid. Hell, Meiss is still a kid. The difference though, is that Meiss is a lot harder to kill.

"Cast el huma on me, aim straight for my chest."

"Eh, but-"

"Even if there was a single strike that could fell a hundred men, it wouldn't hurt me if I saw it coming. Give me your strongest el huma."

"Ok then, el huma!"

The icicle forms and shoots at Meiss. The blonde stands still and takes it square in the chest. The icicle hits him with a little force, like a middle-schooler's push, but crumbles like a snowball upon impact. The little snowflakes dissipate into mana after floating for a second.

Petra deflates upon witnessing the failure of her attack.

"Now cast huma."

"Huma."

The small shield of water forms around Petra. Some of her confidence returns upon the successful casting of the spell.

Meiss pushes against the water bubble. It gives a little, like squeezing a balloon but with more resistance. Then he draws a manganese spike from his gate and swipes it through the bubble, careful not to hit Petra. The bubble pops with a sound like a bubble popping.

Meiss draws the manganese spike up to his left forearm, and rolls up his sleeve. His scarred skin reveals itself to the world, and Petra gasps a little when she sees the marred skin. Meiss brings the manganese spike up to his forearm and cuts himself. Not deep, a superficial cut that does nothing more than break skin.

Blood oozes out of the cut as Meiss shows the wound to Petra.

"Heal this."

"O-ok."

Petra raises her hands to the cut, gentle blue light pouring from her palms. The cut mends slowly, but surely. Meiss pulls his arm away from Petra after a minute passes. The cut is still open, but Meiss will be ok.

"But I wasn't done."

"Petra, I don't mean to be so cruel, but you would be practically useless during this battle. You may have the mana capacity to keep going, but that doesn't matter if what you're dishing out doesn't cut it."

Meiss feels bad for doing this, but he needed Petra to understand. Meiss averts his gaze when he sees her start to tear up. It looked exactly like when they were back on the roof last memory, with her sobs inflicting critical hits on him.

"P-petra, just because you're like this now doesn't mean it'll be forever. This place has many skilled magic users that would be happy to teach you and help you grow stronger."

Meiss risks a glance at Petra and can see that her sadness is transforming into anger. Even though he kind of deserves it, Meiss fears retaliation from the small child.

"Anyways, you don't need to come with me."

"No, Frederica nee-sama asked me to so I will."

Meiss sighed. If she was going to be stubborn so be it.

The blonde grasped the door handle. It was quite cold, which makes sense considering it was underground and away from any heat. He opens the door.

"Oh hell."

Meiss feels a familiar feeling. Of cold metal lancing through his abdomen. A metal throwing dart. He starts to fall forward, but drags out a foot to catch himself. The blonde throws himself in front of Petra as another dart is flung at the maid. This one bounces off his back and clatters to the ground. Meiss throws his arm out behind him, picturing the hallway he caught a glimpse of. Meiss puts his hands on Petra's shoulders and gently pushes her away.

"RUN! Find Rem or Frederica and tell them that this tunnel is compromised by the guthunter! GO!"

Petra hurriedly turns around and dashes for the stairs. She expects to hear more of those metal darts whizzing through the air, but all that greets her ears is silence as Meiss stands back up and faces down the hallway.

The small maid almost trips a few times running up the stairs. She bursts out of Roswaal's study, sweating more in anxiousness and fear than as a result of exercise. Petra looks down the hallway both ways before choosing one direction and running.

Petra glances out the windows as she passes them, looking for either Rem or Frederica. She nearly trips over herself when she spots someone entirely different. A little girl with blue hair, around Petra's own age, pulling a green gem from the mansion's wall.

—

"My my, how cruel you are for being so mean to a little girl!"

Meiss stares unblinking at the cloaked figure down the hallway. He had set up a quiescence earlier after saving Petra from the throwing dart. Currently, this is the only thing separating the two from flying at each other.

"You're two days early."

The guthunter reaches behind herself and pulls one of her kukris out into the dim light. She spins it around in her hand before raising it up to her head and staring at Meiss over the flat of the blade. Specifically, at his abdomen.

"Well, we were told to wait for another two days, but now that you've come knocking I had to answer."

"Well that's important info that was just casually dumped."

"It's useless now, since I was found."

How long has she been here? The blonde runs his hand through his hair, dissipating the quiescence. Barely noticeable, but causing a slight shift in the light, guarding those inside against physical and reality-altering attacks, this is a quiescence. The only barrier between them is now gone.

Meiss levels his stare and approaches Elsa.

"Oh? You seem to know who I am, yet you would rather fight than flee?"

"It's impossible for you to remember, but I promised to beat the shit out of you; and I didn't get my fill last time when I made you a doughnut."

"He's gone insane from fear! This guy is wonderful!"

Meiss draws a manganese spike from his gate and throws it at Elsa in one fluid motion. The guthunter reacts fast, catching the metal in her hand. She moves the point from in front of her face and twirls it around to inspect it.

"You're quite lacking when it comes to this it seems; I would guess you have just started using throwing knives, no?"

Meiss refuses to respond. There wasn't enough time for Beatrice to make his xiphos again, and the blonde didn't really want to force that work upon her without him helping, so he never asked in the first place. Despite this, he was given access to the mansion's limited armory. Now it makes sense that this is the second mansion, since there is so little here. Anyways, Meiss pulls a loaner short-sword from his gate. It's a simple thing, the it-looks-like-an-ordinary-sword-but-shorter type. This would be the first time he is using a melee weapon in combat, and boy does that extra weight in his hand feel out of place.

Meiss throws another manganese spike at Elsa, dashing forward to try and get a hit in when she dodges or catches the projectile. The guthunter steps to the side, lowering her body and dashing at Meiss.

A few orbs of orange light flicker into existence as blade scrapes against blade.

—

"Meili?"

Petra stops in her tracks, watching as the girl removes a warding stone from the wall. The maid hasn't seen Meili in almost four weeks, so her sudden appearance is a shock.

It finally clicks that the blue-haired girl is removing a warding stone. Petra swings open the window, catching Meili's attention. Petra doesn't know where or why the girl has returned, only that she's sabotaging the warding stones.

"El huma!"

The maid launches a projectile of ice at the girl. Meili ducks and the attack piffs against a tree.

"FREDERICA NEE-SAMA, REM-SAMA!"

Almost immediately, a stronger volley of ice finds itself shooting towards Meili. The girl ducks to avoid a few of them before hopping over the wall. Jumping into Petra's view, Rem strikes out with her morningstar. The heavy ball topples a section of the wall. Seemingly not satisfied, Rem prepares to run over and pursue Meili. Frederica comes into view, placing a hand on Rem's shoulder and whispering a few words to the oni. Together, the two turn around and start running to the mansion.

Petra abandons the window and starts running herself. She makes it to the mansion's main lobby just as Frederica and Rem slam open the doors. Petra hurriedly climbs down the stairs.

"Frederica nee-sama! Meiss is fighting someone right now!"

"What?!"

"He said it was the 'guthunter,' she was waiting in the escape tunnel!"

Frederica widens her eyes and turns to Rem.

"Rem-sama, up to the roof! Remember to wait until it's crowded to set off the fire lagmite!"

Rem runs up the stairs and disappears from view. Frederica leans down to be on Petra's level and places a warding stone in the girl's hand.

"Take this and find somewhere to hide."

Petra nods, and gives Frederica a big hug. The tall maid returns it before standing up to start barricading the door. Petra watches for a second before turning around and running off.

—

"Tch."

Meiss backs up a little, sword raised in front of his body in a neutral stance.

"I can tell you are not accustomed to this, your handling and technique are… bad."

"Well, this is the first time I've fought with a sword. I have no intentions of losing though."

Elsa lets her arms hang at her sides, the kukri coming close to cutting her leg.

"I've been toying too long, this is getting quite boring."

Meiss pushes off the ground, swinging the sword at Elsa. She raises her blade and smacks Meiss' blade away. Slowly, telegraphed, Elsa takes aim at Meiss' abdomen. The blonde jumps back and returns to his neutral stance.

"Of course it's boring, I'm stalling for some extra time."

Seeing that as he is now the short-sword would be more of a hindrance, Meiss decides to stop using it. Instead of dropping it or storing it in his gate like a pleb, he decides to throw it at Elsa and high tail it outta there.

Elsa responds by throwing her kukri. The black blade spins through the air towards Meiss. The blonde spins around, using acedia to melt the blade before it reaches him. He sees Elsa's surprised expression before pulling fire lagmite from his gate. Meiss throws the crystals and they smash into the ground. While not as strong as nitroglycerin, it has the same property of exploding when encountering stimuli.

Meiss chucks a handful of the fire crystals at Elsa and sprints up the stairs. He feels a jolt deep in his bones and a pain in his ears when the crystals explode, and he shakes off the dust that rains from the ceiling. Cracks in the stonework widen above Meiss as he takes the steps twice at a time, his height not allowing him to do more. He can feel heat and flames licking his back when his foot is suddenly yanked out from underneath him.

"Gya!"

Meiss throws out his hands to save himself from bouncing his head against the stairs. He activates dolorem a heartbeat too late and feels his skin start to sting because of the sweltering heat. The hand on his foot drags Meiss down a few steps as he flips over, trying to get his bearings for a counterattack. The blonde jerks his head to the side as a kukri hits the stone where his head was previously. Instead of bouncing off, the blade cuts through the stone and imbeds itself halfway. Meiss summons acedia, the wire snapping from his head like a whip and cutting off Elsa's hand. The guthunter looms over him in the orange heat.

"Such power, akin to Mother's!"

"Your mother…"

Meiss kicks the guthunter off of him. The woman's skin is marred in blisters and blackened skin. She lands a few steps down, still within range.

"Must've been pretty shit at her job!"

Meiss swipes his hand through the heat, acedia aiming to cut Elsa in half. The woman dodges by bending her torso. Seeing Elsa in this unstable position, Meiss summons a fire stone and chucks it at the guthunter. In the same motion, he grabs the kukri next to his head and turns Elsa's hand into dust. The lagmite explodes, sending dust and stone flying as well as making Meiss wince from the sound at this closer distance. The blonde pulls the weapon from the stone and starts running again. He glances back as he hears the stone crack once more.

"Ha ha HA! I look forward to a proper dance!"

Meiss pays these words no heed, turning his head back to the front so as to not trip over the stairs. He bursts into Roswaal's study, which has caught on fire around the escape tunnel entrance, and hears the stone behind him finally give in. The sound of stone scraping against stone is unnerving and gives Meiss the chills. He runs from the clown's study into the hallway.

—

Rem breaths heavy, a depleted mana crystal st her feet as she fires ice into the growing crowd of demonbeasts.Rem expected a large number, but not this many!

In particular, the oni is looking for that girl. She remembers the wulgarm incident and the blue-haired girl that disappeared afterwards. So that's why she left. Rem won't forgive her for what she did to Subaru-kun!

Frederica tests the weight of a volatile water crystal in her hand before throwing it at a door. A wall of ice appears, barring access to the mansion from this entrance. That's the last one.

The maid turns to head to Roswaal's study to assist Meiss. She knows Meiss can hold his own, which is why she didn't immediately rush to him. Now that her immediate duty is done, she will assist in whatever way she can.

Petra is breathing heavy, having run with all her might and locked herself in Meiss' room. As her breathing deepens, she glances around and spots some items on his dresser. A black shirt, ragged and destroyed, as well as a pair of pants that aren't much better. Curiously, Petra picks up the strange red-black rock next to the ruined clothing. She almost drops it though when a loud banging sound is heard, along with the floor rumbling. Petra covers her ears because of the loud sound. What was that? An explosion?

Meiss grips the handle of Elsa's kukri as his other hand pats down his flaming day sleepwear. Blood trails down the hallway from a hole straight through his abdomen, the throwing dart having fallen out of his body during his struggle with Elsa. He finds that he has used four of the five lagmite he stored in his gate.

Fear-inducing laughter echoes down the hall.

—

Whew, that escalated quickly. I never thought I would find myself looking up siege tactics. I don't think I used many though.

Tall-Gothic-Guy:: Glad to see that this is enjoyable! Fun fact: I was originally going to have Moose gain the ability to remember in the cannon Arc 6 since Satella is like five feet away, but the loose timeline I have for this story allows for some flexibility so I just went for it. And the weapon thing… I honestly know nothing about spears, swords, axes and such. I was mostly basing Mouse's weapon choice off of his speed and versatility. I think something big or heavy like a mace or axe would hinder his movement, though now that I think about it those may be better options since Meow's fighting style is mostly brute force. Plus, an axe or mace would do better against armor and such since I don't intend for the xiphos to be some Excalibur that can cut through anything.