Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land

Chapter Interlude - Sadera - Marquis Casel Tiberius

Night was his friend, and the fact that he was holding this meeting in Akusho made things easier. He looked over his shoulder before he was certain that there was no one following him. The fact that he was even considering this was enough to potentially have him tried for treason. He was about to ensure that someone purchased by the Royal Family would escape, but then again he was no fool. He'd heard the reports of what the Brotherhood of Steel had done.

He'd listened, intently, and found that Prince Zorzal's actions put them into grave danger. Still, he could not attempt to do this openly. He couldn't dare to have connections made to him, and so it was necessary to do so through another. He looked up to see someone dressed in clothing that would fit what most would consider an adventurer. His cloak was close to that of the rangers that roamed the woods.

His shirt and pants were both simple things that could be found at any market, and it was only his footwear that seemed truly different. Where most wore sandals or had boots made from pressed leather his own seemed to be better made. Still, he didn't want to question the one that was there. The man breathed out, "I understand that you've got a special request," he said, his voice had a strange accent that he wasn't sure of, "And you wanted to reach out to someone that can keep anyone sniffing around from tracing it back to you, right?"

He nodded, "That is the bulk of it," he admitted, "Though, I must insist that you ensure that none followed you here."

"Hey!" a voice shouted, "Who drank my expensive booze?!"

He looked in the direction of the shout, "And that would be?"

The one that was dressed like an adventurer shook his head, "That's one of my party members," he admitted, "Look, I work with a crew, and we all work together. I promise that no one will trace us back to you, but I'm not leaving them out. For one, they'll try to track me down if I do."

A blue haired woman peeked into the room. The ring loop on the top of her head seemed to bounce as she talked, "Seriously!" she shouted, "I was saving that! Did you drink it?!"

Marquis Casel Tiberius tried to ignore that it appeared that she was wearing no undergarments. He didn't want to bring attention to that if he could. Instead he tried to look into her exceptionally blue eyes that were practically drilling holes into the one that she was talking to.

"I brought that with us! I was saving it, and it's gone!"

The man he was talking to let out a long suffering sigh, "Aqua, I swear I haven't touched your booze, at least not yet," he said, his voice sounding tired and defeated, "So seriously, it wasn't me, and remind me, please, exactly who's fault is it that we're here, huh?"

There was a pause, "Don't go blaming that on me!" she shouted, her voice raising in pitch, "how was I to know that he'd built something that opened gates between worlds?!"

The man facepalmed, "Because you gave him the ability," he growled, "look, I'm talking business here, so please, for the love of your own body, go bug someone else about your missing booze."

The Marquis began to stand when the man held his hand out, "I know how this looks, but seriously I'm a good thief," he replied, his eyes focused on the Marquis' own eyes now, "I promise, I can get what you want, and I won't let it get tracked back to you. I just need to know what it is, where it is, and when you want it removed."

He breathed out. There was little time left, and he was down to no other options, "It is a slave," he replied, his voice sounded shaken, "Our crown prince has made the mistake of taking a slave from an opposing army. He's tortured her, violated her, done unspeakable things to her, and we need her returned to her people. She is what you will be stealing."

Suddenly the blue haired woman grew quiet, and she took a seat next to him, "Sorry," she said after a moment, "Did I just hear that we're busting a slave out?"

He nodded, "Yes, and it needs to happen soon, within the next couple of days. She will be in the slaves' quarters in the palace. There are entrance ways for guards and servants. To enter the best option would be to take the servants' entrance. Dress as servants, move toward the slaves' quarters, and then find her room. I wish that I could give you more information on where she is, but unfortunately I cannot."

He shook his head, "So, I'm guessing the large imperial palace, right?"

The Marquis nodded, "That is exactly it," he replied, "You must do so before they come here. I am certain that the Princess will attempt to convince a meeting between both them and the Emperor. If you wait, if they see how she was treated, I fear it will go badly for us, but if she is returned…"

"No harm, no foul," the man said, "Sounds like a reasonable request."

He nodded, "Please, within the next two days," he replied, "Beyond that I fear the chance of the meeting happening will become too great. It could cause too much turmoil, and I fear it could lead to a war that we would be unable to win."

The man nodded, "Sounds like a plan," he said, "So, where do we take her once we have her out?"

The Marquis looked at him, "Take her to Alnus Hill," he replied, "Her people are there, and they might be the only ones that will be able to fully help her."

The man dressed as an adventurer nodded, "I get it," he replied as he sat there, "We'll do what we can. I know that we can get in and get her out. That's not a question. As for the Hill, I'm sure that we can get directions on the best way to get there."

The Marquis nodded and slowly stood, "Please, hurry."

With that he left.

Akusho - Aqua

She looked at him and groaned, "Ugh, why are we getting mixed up in this?" she complained, "I mean I'm a goddess, and you're supposed to be figuring out a way to beat the devil king and get me back to my goddessy position!"

He looked directly at her, "Don't even start with that!" he snapped, all of the calm he showed before was gone, "We're here because that bag of dicks that you reincarnated over there designed a gateway that led to different worlds. And in his infinite wisdom he made it so that it only opens up to the other worlds once every six months, and only once they have enough skill points to open it!"

He breathed out, and looked at the table, "Do you really think that I like being here?" he asked, "I mean I was finally getting somewhere in Axel. I was finally starting to be seen as a true adventurer, and I was making a name for myself. Instead, I'm starting over again, from scratch!"

He looked up at her, "And don't say this isn't your fault, because it is!" he shouted, causing her to look away in shame, "I mean maybe, just maybe, before you send someone somewhere with some lame power make sure that they have the right mindset!"

"Kazuma," a slightly younger voice said, "I'm sure that Aqua didn't mean anything."

"Thank you Megumin," she breathed out, "I knew that you'd be on my side."

She looked toward the short arch wizard that looked pissed, "Oh, no I'm completely agreeing with him that this is your fault," she replied, "I mean a hundred and twenty percent this is on you, but he doesn't need to be so mean about it."

"It's not my fault!" Aqua cried, "I mean it! It's not my fault the undead are attracted to me, it's not my fault that weird things happen, and it's not my fault that someone I helped to reincarnate made some dumb choices!"

"It's not so bad," a slightly older voice said as the last party member walked in, "I mean, honestly it feels rather refreshing to be somewhere that people don't automatically assume that I am worthless as a crusader. Instead I am looked at with some reverence. Although I am uncertain of what the order of the roses is."

"See!" Aqua said as she looked at both Kazuma and Megumin, "See! Darkness gets it!"

"Oh, no I truly agree that this is on you," she replied, "Honestly, the moment we found out that you are the real Aqua, and that you're stuck here because you weren't doing your job correctly, well, it explains far too much."

Aqua slid into her seat, "It's really not my fault," she complained as she sat there, "I mean, really, it's not my fault."

She looked at Kazuma, "And my booze?"

He glared at her, "I didn't drink it," he repeated, "I sold it."

She looked at him, her eyes going wide, "WHY?!"

He groaned, "Aqua, we're in a strange new world, our money doesn't work here, and that means that we need some kind of income. As it was, your expensive booze is mid grade, at best, here. It fetched us enough to get a crappy room in this slum. It's not enough to exist on, so we've got to take quests. You want more booze, then help out with this."

He looked at the table, "Damn it, we're back to not having any cash, not having any place really to call our own, and no one is connected to anyone."

"Hey," Megumin said as she hugged him, "It's okay, I've lived like this before, and it's not so bad once you get used to it."

He looked at her, "I know, and thanks," he replied as she hugged him, "But I don't want us to be stuck here. We've got our own world to get back to. Still, we need to save this lady, and that Marquis did actually help us more than he likely thinks."

He looked at them, "So, the palace itself is pretty large, but the guard and servant entrances are only in four locations. It should be fairly easy to get inside," he said as he looked at them, "I can still use lurk and steal, so I can get through fairly easily. Getting out with the lady might be an issue, but I'm pretty sure that lurk will let me hide her with me if I'm carrying her."

He looked at them, "Darkness, I need you and Megumin to find a wagon. Something that isn't flashy, and something simple. Have it close," he said as he looked toward Aqua, "Aqua, I need you to be prepared with healing spells, and to not screw up their finding a wagon."

"Hey!" she shouted as she looked at him, "How would I screw up getting a wagon?!"

She watched as he facepalmed, "Did you really just throw up a flag?" he asked as he breathed out, "Seriously, that's like asking the universe to screw us over with a sandpaper dildo. Please, Aqua, for the love of your own body, don't do anything stupid that will screw this up. These folks seem pretty hard core about stuff, and I'm not sure that your whole resurrection thing will work here."

She huffed, "I wouldn't make it worse."

He glared at her, "Aqua, if there's a way of screwing it up, I know that you can do it. That's why I asked them to do it," he replied, "Now, that said, we need to do this soon. I think that we should work on getting the servant clothes tonight. I'll look into getting a set from the locals. I'm sure that someone has gotten a set at some point. Tomorrow, get the wagon, and we'll set on where to go into the palace at."

"Okay, so where's the slave quarters?" Aqua asked, "I mean he didn't exactly tell us, did he?"

He looked at her, "They're located under the entrances for the servants and guards, he literally said that earlier," he replied, his face deadpanned, "But where she is seems to be secret. So, I'll sneak through and see if I can figure out where exactly she's located. With any luck I should be able to figure it out fairly soon."

The plan itself wasn't going to be a difficult one, and of course Aqua began to think of the ways that she could improve it. She was a goddess afterall. She could boost Kazuma's luck. That'd help him. With a high enough luck he could pass through undetected with ease. She smiled at her brilliant thought. Slowly realization began to dawn on her, "Wait, why don't I sneak into the palace and get her?"

Everyone seemed to freeze at her suggestion, "You don't have thief skills," Kazuma replied, "I mean all you've really learned is party tricks."

She sat there and glared at him, "I'll have you know that I have my goddess requiem!" she exclaimed, "It's way more powerful than your little thief skills. In fact, those skills remind me of Eris, and I bet that Chris is somehow a disciple of Eris!"

"Of course she is," Darkness chimed in, "It's part of how we know each other. She admitted to me that she belongs to Eris' order, and that's one of the reasons we get along so well."

"See!" Aqua said, sounding smug, "That chest padding junior goddess doesn't have anything on me!"

She looked at Kazuma and didn't see the expression of awe and love she expected. Instead she saw a face void of all emotion, "Aqua," he said, speaking slowly as if he was speaking to a child that wasn't very bright, "Tell me something. You're in the physical world now, right?"

She nodded, "Uh huh!" she exclaimed, seemingly thrilled that she answered correctly, "Yes I am."

He nodded, "Good, so tell me, what happens to a goddess that's in the physical world, and they die?"

She opened her mouth, and then her pupils turned into pinpricks, "Oh… Oh no… I don't wanna fight the devil king anymore!" she cried, "I don't wanna diiiiiiieeeeeee!"

"If it wasn't that we met all of her followers at that hotspring, I'd say that this isn't a way for a goddess to act," Megumin said, "But after meeting them, yeah, I'm pretty sure this is how she's supposed to act."

Aqua looked t her, "Hey!" she exclaimed, "Don't be talking bad about my followers!"

"Aqua," Kazuma said, his voice sounding tired, "Your followers are a bunch of idiots. They're overly devoted, and they flock toward anyone that isn't one of them and attempts to pressure them into accepting their religion. They don't seem to be able to act outside of a herd mentality, and honestly I'm waiting for the day to come when they all decide to drink the Kool-Aid and just go to see you."

She stood there, "Why would you say that?!"

He breathed out, "Okay, I'm going to go look for the servant clothes," he said as he stood, "Aqua isn't going to go in and get her. We need someone with thief powers, and Aqua you will have to heal her. That's just as important."

He stood, "Megumin, Darkness, first light look to finding a wagon, okay?"

With that he stood and walked out.

Akusho - Kazuma

The streets of the slum looked far different from Axel. Sure, Axel had a few places that were rundown, but it all sort of tied in together. It wasn't a bad place, but it wasn't exactly the best in the world either. It was just a starter town. A place where most beginning adventurers started out, and it was also one of the cheapest places to live.

This slum looked dangerous enough that dying seemed to be a very real prospect. In truth he didn't want to be out here. He wanted to be back in the room, lying down, and hopefully spooning against the one that finally confessed to him. The same one that he accepted, and the one that they still haven't managed to actually do anything. He breathed out, there was time for that later.

He looked at the few lights that were shining, and he could see the occasional shop window open. There were a few people here and there that were presenting themselves, and he understood that he was looking at the red light district. He had no intention of going into one of those places. Not that he was some paradigm of morality, but instead because he was certain that the best option for him right now was to just find what he was looking for.

His eyes moved toward a single stall, and he moved over toward it. The stall itself seemed to have nothing but a collection of junk, but he'd long since discovered that places like this often had the very thing he was looking for.

"Hey, anyone in?"

A figure looked up at him, "Ah, welcome, welcome, here I have the greatest collection of goods one could ever want."

He nodded, "Actually, I'm needing to get a suit of clothes for a servant," he said as he looked around, "Royal servant, someone that would work in the palace, do you have anything like that?"

The man studied him, and Kazuma noticed that his right ear twitched. Before going to the previous world he was in he might have had a moment of freak out over seeing dog ears, but it was fairly common place now.

"Yes," he replied before pulling what looked like an intact suit of clothes, "This came from a disgraced servant. He was unfortunately beheaded, but the clothing is still good. I will part with it for…. Let us say… a silver coin?"

He looked at him, "Uh huh," he said as he looked at it, "How about five coppers?"

The man looked at him, "If you want to waste my time… Fifteen coppers."

Kazuma smiled, feeling happy that his merchant perks were still working, "Ten coppers."

The man frowned, "Twelve is as low as I will go, and I will go no lower."

Kazuma nodded, "Twelve is good enough," he said as he removed the pouch he had, and counted out the coppers, "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah," the man said as he took the silvers, "Go ahead and take the clothes you little thief."

He gathered them up and headed back. That left them three silvers, and hopefully that would be enough to get a wagon for tomorrow. He didn't want to jump at the first price because of that. He moved through the night and heard something. Taking a chance he activated lurk and blended into the shadows.

"So, are you certain?" a voice said as they walked past him, "You saw one of the Rose knights here?"

"Yeah," the other voice replied, "I'm sure I saw her. It could be Boses, but she didn't have ringlets in her hair. She was wearing a ponytail, and her armor was more ornate. I'm thinking that she's new."

There was a laugh, "well, if she's here then she's fair game. No one questions what happens here. We can have some fun, claim that we came across her afterward, and no one will ever know."

Kazuma closed his eyes and silently cursed to himself. Darkness had unintentionally advertised her presence here. She wasn't connected to anyone here, but apparently she looked like she belonged to this Rose Order, whoever they were, and that was enough for these two asshats to try something. He began following them, and he noticed that both of them were dressed similar to how that perverted lord had dressed in Axel.

They seemed full of themselves, and he scowled as he watched them. The last thing he wanted to do was let Darkness get hurt. He didn't want to advertise their presence anymore than he needed either, but he couldn't let one of his party members get treated like a toy, "Even if that's something I'm sure she'd get off on," he whispered to himself as he followed them, "Come on you two, just wander down the wrong alleyway. Just take a bad turn. I can deal with you two easily enough."

It wasn't that he wanted to hurt people. He actively went out of his way to not hurt normal people. Sure, sometimes other adventurers got into things that they couldn't handle, and that was part of the job. When he had traded parties with Ace back in Axel he'd shown how much of a standup guy he could be. He'd actively helped his party members, and he'd managed to get their respect.

Ace on the other hand had begged to get his party back. He begged because Darkness couldn't hit a single thing she swung at, Megumin had unleashed her explosion spell as a way of proving her worth, which made her catatonic for the rest of the mission, and Aqua had acted like an entitled little brat the entire mission. And of course with her being her she had managed to attract all of the monsters and undead in the area.

They had barely made it out alive. Ace had also come to respect him, because he believed that it was Kazuma that somehow had managed to keep them from dying. It wasn't just him, but he'd admit that he did help to plan out what was going to happen fairly well. Still, his mind came back to the present and he watched as they neared the area where they had a room rented. He breathed out, "Shit."

He stretched out his hand, "Steal," he said, and felt something form in his hand. He looked at a vial full of liquid. It bubbled slightly, and the purple tint of it seemed to almost cause it to glow.

"Wait," one of the asshats said, "The potion, it's gone!"

He looked at the potion, looked toward the shadows and smiled, "Lurk."

His skill caused him to blend in with the shadows perfectly, "You idiot!" the other cursed, "Without that potion we'll have to overwhelm her! She's a trained knight, even if they are for show, and I don't feel like getting stabbed just to enjoy her. We'll have to do this later."

The other asshat nodded, "Good idea, I'm sure that she will still be her. It's obvious that she's likely just their plaything anyway."

With that they turned around and left. He breathed out and looked at the potion. It still was bubbling, but he had no clue what it was. He walked out of the shadows, moved toward the building with their room, and walked up stairs. The moment he got to where he was going he saw that both Darkness and Aqua were already asleep. He stretched and moved toward the bed.

"Did you find the servant clothes?" Megumin asked, her voice soft and nearly quiet, "Was there any problems?"

He shrugged, "A couple of noble asshats noticed Darkness. They were planning something, but I managed to steal whatever it was that they were going to use. I've got with me."

She hugged him, "Thanks for looking out for her," she replied, "By the way, ummm… since we're sharing a room, I don't know if we should, you know."

He nodded, "Trust me, I know," he replied as they laid down together, "It's hard enough when we're in the same house but separate rooms. Let's get some sleep, get this job done tomorrow, and then focus on getting back to where we belong."

Imperial Palace - Slave Chambers - Stephanie Prophet

Pain had become a constant friend, and one that was slowly wearing hard on her sanity. Stephanie found herself longing more and more for the sweet embrace of death. She would be saved by the father by simply letting go of this life. She believed that her brothers and sisters in the Brotherhood of Steel knew that she might be alive, but it was also likely they had no idea where she could be. They could be searching on the other side of the gate, hoping that she made it out, but she doubted that was the case.

She hung from the place where she was chained. She wasn't gifted a bed to sleep in since she had used the last bed as a makeshift weapon. Instead she hung in place, her arms pulling themselves out of socket. Her tormentor would come into the room eventually, and he would do what he did best. He would violate her, hurt her, torment her, and then have his healers restore her health.

The door cracked open, and she closed her eyes, "Father, please, please give me strength."

There was silence, "You're speaking English?"

She looked up to see someone dressed in servant clothes, "My name is Kazuma Sato," he said, "I've been hired to come and save you. Come, let us escape from this place."

He moved toward her, and she watched as he looked at the chains, "Please be quiet, this might hurt, but I'm going to freeze the chains, and then have you pull hard to break them, okay?"

She nodded, and she watched as he stretched out his hand. He said some nonsensical word, and then she felt the biting cold as ice formed on the chains above her. She could hear the metal creaking for a moment, and then he stopped, "Okay, pull hard now."

She did, and to her surprise the chains held for only a second before they broke loose. She fell to the ground, and then he helped her up, "We're escaping now, please, do not make a sound."

With that he said another word, and she noticed that it was almost like they were using a stealth boy. They moved quietly through the tunnel, and then she saw a room. She nudged him, "Wait," she said, "She helped me, comforted me, can we save her?"

He looked at the room, "Be very quiet."

With that he opened it, and she saw the beast woman sleeping. She moved, her body aching, she moved toward the resting bunny warrior, "Tyuule, Tyuule, we're escaping, please, come with us."

Slowly the bunny warrior looked up, at her, and there was a look of shock, "What?"

"We're escaping, I'm being rescued, and he agreed to help you get out, please, we need to run, now."

There was a moment of hesitation, and then she nodded, She followed them and the man that was helping her looked at him, "Stay close," he said, "I can hide those that I am carrying, or that are close to me, but do not wander far."

They moved, and she looked around, "Where are we heading?"

He continued to walk, "Alnus Hill," he replied, "To her people."