Halloween - The Singing Pumpkin Castle: VII

"Wine?" Arkon asked, holding a jug above Ritsuka's goblet. The Master blinked at the man as he remained seated at the table before he slowly raised his hand and covered up the top of the cup. Still staring at the others with a bizarre expression.

"I'm…underage?"

"...Why did you phrase it like a question?"

"Because honestly with the way this day has been going, I'm not even sure if that counts for anything." He replied with an honest shrug "...Also I'm worried that if I start drinking now, I'm going to pull a Lancer and just keep drinking until the madness fades away and that definitely sounds like a bad idea."

Arkon pulled the jug back and stared at it for a few moments before looking back at the Master "...Juice?"

"Please."

The Silver Knight nodded once and then turned away, walking back towards one of the tables at the side of the room. Ritsuka returned his attention to the table where the others were all seated around with plates of food in front of them, all of them wearing puzzled looks. Eventually Ritsuka could no longer contain his bafflement "What are we even doing?"

"You're enjoying a banquet before the show." The cat girl responded with a wide smile as she approached the table with a large pumpkin which had obviously been cooked. Ritsuka was personally curious as to why the pumpkin had been a jack-o-lantern. Siegward was staring at the pumpkin on the plate with wide eyes before he slowly looked towards his helmet he had placed on the floor. "It is only natural that a maid and a butler would serve guests in a castle, right?"

"Probably." Ritsuka replied before he could help it, then gradually looked back over to Arkon as the man approached the table again with a different jug and poured out an orange liquid into the goblet until it was nearly at the top before he pulled the jug back. "Thanks."

"Hmmm."

"So…" Mash coughed into her hands as she gave the cat girl a polite smile "We are here to eat before we see Elizabeth's singing, miss?"

"Cat." The maid replied with a perfectly straight face.

"Cat?" Ritsuka parroted to her with a raised eyebrow and an expression which was practically begging her to say she was only joking.

The wide smile and frantic nod of the head she gave caused his expression to fall flat. "Cat." The woman then paused as she noticed Kiyohime giving her an odd expression "Is something wrong?"

"No…" Kiyohime replied in a slow tone "It is simply that you bear a strong resemblance to someone I might know from somewhere…but you two are nothing alike." she then paused and furrowed her brows "Unless this is something that lies at her heart."

"...I'm still baffled by this turn of events." Siegward bluntly stated as he moved to his side and then pulled out a hip flask and unscrewed the lid. Pouring the liquid into the goblet in front of them, then pausing and looking around when he saw the expressions of shock from everyone else on the table "Yes?"

"You just carry that around with you?"

"You never know when you might need to offer someone a toast." Siegward spoke in a sure tone, then nodded over to Ash "I offered some to him three times and we shared a toast."

The attention moved from Siegward to Ash, the Saber nodded once "...Siegbrau tastes good."

"Do you want some?" Siegward offered the flask towards Ash, the Saber only gave a single nod as Siegward filled up the goblet in front of him and then screwed the lid back on before he paused and looked around "Anyone else fancy some?"

"No."

"I'm fine."

"No thank you."

"Nyaoo."

"Is it strong?" The last one coming from Arkon, the Knight staring at Siegward with his full attention.

"I believe so?" Siegward nodded his head "Well, it is for undead like myself and Ash but I'm sure that-"

"If its strong enough for undead, then it is fine for me." Arkon replied "If it is not trouble." he added on, giving a long sigh "Silver Knights are not forbidden from merriment and I did frequent a tavern on occasion, however drinking on duty is usually looked down upon." he nodded his head in the direction of Cat "I feel as though this is an exception."

"If you say so." Siegward shrugged, then topped up one of the spare goblets for Arkon before screwing the flask shut and returning it to wherever it had come from. Ritsuka leaned to the side and stared with furrowed brows, watching as the hip flask quite literally disappeared into motes of light, raising his eyebrows as he looked between Siegward and the missing flash with bafflement.

"Now then, a toast!" Siegward exclaimed with a large smile as he grabbed his goblet and held it aloft "To our journey, this festival, and the many adventures that await! Long may the sun shine!" he brought the goblet to his lips and took a swing of the liquid before chuckling to himself.

Ask took a long sip of the liquid before placing the goblet back on the table, his expression hardly changing as he drank.

Ritsuka made to drink his juice before he paused, goblet barely touching his lips and eyes focused on Arkon. He was not alone in the attention he was giving the Silver Knight as the eyes of everyone else soon drifted to him, the knight had his head tipped back - helmet still on his head - and goblet pressed into the groove at the front of the helm and pouring the liquid directly into his mouth without showing any sign of stopping.

After what felt like eons, Arkon eventually lowered the empty goblet and placed it back on the table, swaying slightly on his feet before he shook his head slightly. "...That was strong, yes." he spoke in a slightly slurred tone, nodding once to Siegward "My thanks."

"Your welcome?"

"Stop trying to get drunk." Cat ordered him with a stern frown as she pointed at the man "You're a butler! How can you be expected to collect their orders and coats if you can't stand up straight? Woof!"

"W-woof?" Mash blinked profusely at Cat in bafflement "Woof? Why…I thought you said you were a-"

"Don't…" Arkon warned her off, shaking his head from side to side "Just…don't. She won't answer…"

"I did answer you." Cat pointed a clawed finger at the man "I said that I am a fox so it's alright."

"But you said your name was Cat?" Ash asked with furrowed brows.

"It is."

"But…you claim to be some manner of fox?"

"I am." Cat placed her hands on her hips and gave a wide smile "I am Tama Cat one of the nine aspects of Tamamo no Mae!"

Ritsuka - who had been drinking at the time - spat out the juice in his mouth, breaking down into a choking fit as he stared at Cat with wide eyes, staggering to his feet and pointing at the woman with a red face "T-t-t-t-t-t-!"

"Tamamo-no-mae!?" Romani blurted out through the communicator, the man's face appeared and looked similarly shocked "The fox spirit!?"

"No, I'm Tama Cat." Cat replied with a frown, crossing her arms and frowning "Completely different. Woof! For example, I'm clearly superior."

Ash blinked and looked around "Is she important?"

"Tamamo-no-mae is considered to be a fox spirit behind the downfall of several dynasties." Mash helpfully explained while giving Cat a newly suspicious expression "Although that was under the persona of Daji who was also identified to be a nine tailed fox. The pattern repeats itself as she was said to possess other women and bring about calamities which led to the ends of the Kingdoms."

"Alright, alright no need to bring up an embarrassing past you know?" Cat pointed at Mash "Besides! I'm Tama Cat! I'm only one part of the Tamamo nine."

"Tamamo nine?" Siegward raised an eyebrow, then pointedly looked at the single tail on her back "...Is it because you have nine tails?"

"Yep. Nine tails, nine personalities." Cat explained with a smirk "I'm clearly the best! Woof!"

"Probably her instinctive and beastial aside." Kiyohime bluntly surmised with a curious frown before turning to the knight "And you?"

"Arkon…Silver Knight of Anor Londo." The man replied in a dull tone, then raised a white gloved hand and pointed at Cat "And somehow her subordinate."

"How did this happen?"

"I was there when he was summoned, woof!" Cat explained as she placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest "It means I can also get someone to sort out all the tables while I do all the cooking."

"How are you responsible for summoning a silver knight?"

"Glad you asked!" Cat pointed at Ash as he asked the question, then at Arkon "It's actually because-"

"Don't answer that." Arkon cut her off, his head in his hands as he moved over to one of the side tables and slumped down into one of the chairs "I feel a sense of dread, that to have that question answered would uncover some terrible secret."

"...Well fine then." Cat pouted, crossing her arms and looking away "I won't answer it then if you care so much."

"...Thank you."

"Thank you what?"

"...Thank you Divine Avatar Cat."

"Purrfect."

"Remember when I said earlier we had hit peak madness?" Ritsuka spoke as he sat back down, whispering to Mash who was sitting next to him. The girl nodded her head in response "I need to change my definition of peak madness because otherwise we're just going to keep topping it."

"Should I make a note of it, Senpai?" She whispered back with a serious expression. Ritsuka paused for a moment before nodding his head.

"You should not worry too much about these types of people, Anchin-sama." Kiyohime assured the Master from her spot on the other side of him, frowning slightly in the direction of Cat "However they really do sometimes just appear from nowhere."

"I specialise in surprises!" Cat called out from the opposite end of the room with a carefree expression before her eyes turned predatory. "Besides snake girl, I can appear whenever I want!"

"Do you actually handle food with those paws of yours?" Kiyohime found herself asking with an appalled expression "Do you not have the most basic sense of hygiene in that hide of yours?" she waved her hand in the direction of the food "What do you do when you get orange hair in the food? Where are your gloves and hairnets?"

"Ha? As if I'd need something like that." Cat scoffed, waving her hand in a dismissive manner "My cooking and cleaning skills are in the EX rank. I'm Tamamo Cat maido!"

"Maido…" Ritsuka whispered to himself with a puzzled expression as he took another sip of his drink, looking over to the opposite side of the table to see that both Ash and Siegward had since given up trying to understand the woman and Arkon was still sitting in the chair at the far end of the room with his head in his hands.

"I'm a student of Beni-enma herself!"

"Who?" Ritsuka furrowed his brows and looked around, seeing that no one else understood who she was actually talking about either.

"Woof!? Are we all ignrawrent!?"

"Oh good lord." Ritsuka pinched the bridge of his nose at the pun, finding the strength leaving his body.

"You look tired, Fujimaru-kun." Romani spoke with a strained tone of voice through the communicator.

"It's tough keeping up with these people." Was the reply the doctor received from the young man as he took another sip of his juice.

"Hmmm." He heard the Director give a hum in the background, Romani turned towards her and raised an eyebrow before he noted that her expression seemed to be mildly vindictive. As if she was enjoying the fact that someone else was having to put up with the insanity instead of her. The expression lasted until she noticed Romani was looking at her, upon which she scowled at the man and caused him to spin his chair back around.

"So you're saying that my cooking is so amazing that it can seemingly defy common sense?" Cat remarked as she leaned over Kiyohime with a wide smile "Thank you for the compliment!"

"I wasn't complimenting you." Kiyohime swiftly retorted as she closed up her fan and pressed the end of it onto her forehead before pushing her back "And keep away from me."

Cat blinked, leaning back and frowning down at her, placing her hands on her hips and giving a thoughtful frown "So you're not complimenting me and you're saying that you want me to go?" she shook her head "...So one of us has to die then."

Ritsuka stopped drinking "...That's a jump in logic isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Cat pointed at Ritsuka "You get it my (Not Master because you've never seen me before today) acquaintance! We need a real heart to heart!" her paws stretched out and claws the length of Ritsuka's forearm jutted off from them, the boy promptly paling at the sight of the curved back scythes. "I am so glad you understand!"

"I think you're misinterpreting my suggestion-"

"I am a guard after all!" Cat exclaimed as she rolled away from the group and then hunched down on all fours like a cat, tensing her body as if preparing to pounce forwards "It's my job to set the traps and cook the jack-o-lanterns!"

"You aren't meant to eat those."

"You eat those?"

Mash and Arkon spoke at the same time, the pair briefly looked at each other from across the room before returning their attention to Cat.

"Of course we do!" Cat replied vigorously "They're good!"

"They aren't." Arkon commented as he stared at her.

"Hey, you be quiet!" Cat called out, standing up and pointing at him with a clawed hand "You're just saying that because you can't appreciate the taste of it! Besides, which of the two of us is actually related to a Sun God?"

"...I'm obligated to say me and I'm dreading whatever answer you can give."

"Nyaope! I'm Pawsative it's me!"

Arkon remained stationary in his chair, everyone else getting the feeling as though he was staring off into the distance at nothing in particular. "...I'm in the service of a crossbreed and my employer is the holder of a Lord soul and is insane."

"Erm…" Siegward coughed and raised his hands "Surely there is no need for violence? We are all of us enjoying a rather cordial conversation here and there is no need for-"

"Food fight!" Cat exclaimed, promptly materialising a plate of Omurice from somewhere and holding it in her right hand, cocking the limb back and turning towards Ash and Siegward before hurling the plate towards them.

Ash was only halfway out of his seat before the plate hit him square in the face.

And then exploded in a ball of magical energy, the detonation at point blank range blasted the table into pieces and caused Ritsuka to duck for cover as Mash raised her shield and protected the boy. Shards of wood impacting the shield as he let out a panicked cry.

Ash was sent flying through the air, crashing into the wall behind him and going through it. Arkon stood up in shock, staring at the new hole in the wall before turning in the direction of the remains of the table. Siegward was on the floor, turning around and staring at the hole in the wall with wide eyes before they snapped back towards Tamamo Cat.

The Cat chuckled before raising her hand into a fist "Score one for the cat! Strike!" She then launched herself forwards at Mash, extending her claws and slashing at the shield with enough force that the girl let out a grunt in surprise. Cat flipped through the air, pressing her feet against Mash's shield and then kicking off the shield and into a roll away from her, sweeping out with the back of her hand and striking Kiyohime in the gut and sending her flying away from her.

Cat struck several poses before grinning like a loon. "Grand battle time! Kick in the boss music! Woof!" she pointed at Arkon "So sitting around on your tail! I'm a guard and you're my servant so that means you also have to do what I say and fight them!"

Arkon looked down at himself before looking up "I'm in a costume with no sword? What do you expect me to do?"

"Throw some paws!" Tamamo cat shadow boxed before she paused and shrugged "Or throw some punches in your case. MEOOOW!" she cried out as she launched herself back into the fighting once again, disappearing in a blur of speed.

"You are insane." Arkon scowled before he looked around himself, then picked up a chair.

Ash stumbled out of the hole in the wall, shaking his head and then looking up.

Arkon smashed a chair over his head, then grabbed the broken leg and swung it upwards into Ash's chin, sending him staggering back through the hole.

Siegward stared at the man with a dumbfounded expression before he rushed to his feet, Arkon turned to him and and swung the chair leg at the Knight, Siegward raised his left forearm and caught the attack on the limb and shattered the makeshift weapon, then countered with a straight right to the side of his head.

The slightly taller man staggered with the blow ever so slightly, then drew his leg back and kicked Siegward in the chest and launched him away, flexing his arms he brought forth his sword and shield, assuming a ready posture and charging forwards.

Siegward rolled back onto his feet, manifesting his greatsword and swinging it upwards at the same time Arkon swung the pointed edge of his shield towards the Catarinan's head. The attack was parried upwards at the same time he thrust his longsword towards his leg. Siegward widened his eyes and swept his arm across, clashing it against the flat of the sword and redirecting away from him.

Arkon moved forwards and slammed his helmet into Siegwards face, causing the knight to recoil backwards, he made to charge forwards when he heard a cracking sound behind him. Arkon rolled to the side just before a large axe slammed into the ground where he had been standing, rolling back to his feet he found himself staring at a chiselled greatsword made of obsidian.

Ash ignited the sword with demon fire before swinging the sword towards the silver knight, Arkon turned towards him and raised his shield as the sword made contact with his defence, he grunted as he went skating across the floor before he slid to a halt. Arkon lowered his shield and stared at the sword with surprise.

The Knight jumped forwards, his butler suit shredded as his armour manifested in full. Ash raised the greatsword in a blocking motion as Arkon fell upon him with an overhead strike with his sword, the Saber grit his teeth and held his ground as the full weight of the Silver knight bore down on him. Swinging the point of his shield up, Arkon struck Ash in the gut with the punch and staggered him away, spinning on his ankle as he went for a slash towards his neck.

Ash raised the black of the greatsword, blocking the attack before sliding the sword across the blade towards the knight. Arkon raised the shield across his body, the burning sword slamming into his guard and chaos flames whipping at his armour as if they had a mind of their own. Arkon grimaced and pushed the sword to the side, exposing himself as he did. Ash stepped into his guard, swerving his body to the side and crashing his shoulder into the Silver Knight's chest.

Arkon staggered back then stumbled to the side as Siegwards greatsword slashed at his shoulder, the blade grazing across the armour and upwards towards his helmet. The attack slammed into his helmet resulting in a resounding thud of metal. The man released a grunt as he turned his body so that Ash and Siegward were in his line of sight. His helmet moved left and right between the two of them, tensing his body and holding his shield out in front of him and his sword arm coiled back in preparation for a thrust.

The pair in front of him levelled their greatswords towards him.

Arkon tensed his body and then rocketed forwards, igniting his sword in lighting as he approached the pair and swung it towards them. Ash met the blow head on, swinging Galvatyne into the oncoming black and clashing against it, divine lightning and chaos fire combatted each other in a furious sparking. Each blessing seemingly trying to snuff out the other.

Siegward swung towards Arkon's side, the knight raised his shield, blocking the attack and remaining fixed in place from the duo, his eyes narrowed behind his helmet as he stared at the pair, digging his feet into the ground as they started to try and push him back.

There were many things that Fujimaru Ritsuka wanted to do in his life, or at the very least make an attempt to do in his life. One of those things was getting into a food fight. He had always heard of them and seen them in cartoons when growing up. Moments when someone would get a pie thrown into their face and the like. Although he did personally wonder how people avoided getting injured.

Apples were a very hard fruit and taking one of those to the head would most definitely have hurt.

Another thing he had wanted to do at some point was one of those movie stunts where a person throws themselves over a table action hero style. Not for any particular reason beyond a simple childhood fantasy of looking cool.

As he threw himself head first over one of the food tables and landed in a heap on the floor, Ritsuka realised that there were some childhood wishes that were beautiful because you weren't meant to obtain them. He rolled onto his back and then kicked up at the table, flipping it over and sending the food scattering onto the floor. Ritsuka crawled forwards and then pressed his back against the flat of the table, panting heavily he turned around and crested his eyes over the table.

They then widened and ducked down as a platter of meat went flying through the air where his head had been and splattered against the ground. The boy paled slightly when he saw the metal tray itself was embedded in the ground.

"Are you alright, Anchin-sama?" Ritsuka released a yelp and looked to his left to find Kiyohime sitting next to him with a concerned look on his face. The boy released a sigh of relief and nodded his head at her.

"Yeah…just fine." Coughing into his hand, he looked over the flipped table once again and caught sight of the battle between Mash and Cat still ongoing.

Cat span around, her tail enlarging and bursting into flames and smashing into Mash's shield, the girl grimaced as she was shoved back before throwing herself forwards, raising her shield above her head and slamming it into the ground with enough force to break the tiles, Cat leapt back to avoid the strike, Mash pushed off the shield and rose into the air, flipping her body over the cross-shield and swinging her leg down like an axe towards the girl.

Tamamo smirked and threw her fist up, meeting the axe kick with an uppercut. Mash released a gasp as she was pushed back, flipping back over the shield. The moment Mash'd feet touched the ground she swung her leg forwards and kicked the shield - still stuck in the ground - towards Cat. The girl blinked and raised her arms up in a block, gasping as she was struck by the metal projectile and sent flying backwards.

Only to land on her feet, smirking at Mash as the shield flew back to her hands.

"Nyahaha! Didn't you know that cats always land on their feet? Woof!"

"You keep barking though!" Mash exclaimed with a look of shock "Shouldn't you be meowing instead if you're a cat?"

"Rawr! Cat can do whatever she likes!" Taking in a deep breath, her eyes twinkled before she hunched her body forwards and opened her mouth, the back of her throat glowing a brilliant orange before it erupted forwards in a beam of light. Mash widened her eyes and raised her shield to block the attack, the beam struck dead centre and washed over the metal surface before being redirected towards the ceiling, carving a burning line through it before dissipating.

"Hey!" Cat frowned "You aren't supposed to block it! Woof!"

"Since when could she fire beams from her mouth!?" Ritsuka called out, still hiding behind the table and pointing at her "Where is that in the legends of Tamamo-no-mae!?"

"You know about Tamamo-no-mae?"

"Not a lot but I feel as though someone would have mentioned that she could fire lazer beams from her mouth!"

"Hahaha!" Cat merely laughed and threw several more punches in the air "There's nothing a loyal maid can't do for her master!"

"What the heck does that even mean?" Ritsuka cried out with a look of bafflement "How does being a maid give you the ability to shoot laser beams?"

"Being a housewife lets me burn things." Kiyohime replied with an innocent expression before she frowned in the direction of Cat. "But there is such a thing as overcompensation."

Cat frowned at her in response "Hey, don't diss me snake girl! I'll sharpen my claws on your kimono!"

"Try it and see how far it gets you." Kiyohime called back before she took in a lung full of air. Cat whirled on her and leaned back, opening up her mouth and once again building up magical energy in the back of her throat.

"...Oh crap!" Ritsuka realised as he scurried away from the table, crawling along the ground and hiding underneath another one as the two women threw their heads forwards and unleashed attacks from their mouths. A stream of fire erupted from Kiyohime's throat and launched itself towards Cat at the same time Cat unleashed a golden beam of light towards Kiyohime. The two attacks clashed against each other, fire and magical energy wrapped around their opposing force like a serpent before exploding outwards. The ground where the attacks had met was scorched black.

Ritsuka watched the devastation before looking between the two battles, his eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded to himself "Ash! Mash! Swap!"

Cat was recovering from the initial attack when the hairs on the back of her neck screamed out in alarm, the servant rolled backwards just as Ash's greatsword passed through the air where she had been moments prior. Ash used the momentum of his swing to carry himself forwards, cocking his left arm back and throwing an overhead punch with his full body weight behind it. Cat widened her eyes before they narrowed, raising the flat of her paw and catching the fist in her hand.

Ash blinked in surprise before she extended her claws and clamped down against the wrist, the curved fingernails pierced through his arms and earned a hiss from the Saber, made worse when Cat twisted the arm and pulled it downwards while kicking off the ground, spinning her body sideways and slamming a kick into his collarbone and being rewarded with a dull thudding sound. Ash growled before the hand started to burn.

Cat released the arm and jumped back as the palm exploded into black flames.

"Hey!" Cat frowned at him "Don't you know how sensitive my paws are? How would I be able to cook without them?"

Ash didn't say a word as he rushed in again, this time thrusting the sword forwards. The sword glowing a brilliant white for a half second before the light surged forwards, rushing towards Tamamo like an arrow. The Cat kicked off the ground at the last second, cratering the floor beneath her and extending her claws out, stabbing into the wall and then climbing up it. Ash's head turned in her direction before he felt a buildup of heat behind him, he spared a glance over his shoulder to see Kiyohime form several orbs of fire and launch them forwards.

Ash found it mildly disturbing how manoeuvrable the Cat creature was, the woman virtually a blur of movement as she crawled across the ceiling and avoided the orbs of fire being launched at her, much to the obvious irritation of Kiyohime who was clearly starting to tire at this point from the constant expenditure of magical energy.

Narrowing his eyes, Ash stabbed Galvatyne into the ground before going to his bottomless box and pulling out the swordspear of Faraam. Grasping the weapon with both hands, Ash aimed it towards the ceiling before nodding to Kiyohime "Get Ritsuka behind us." he told her, the Berserker clearly didn't need much in the way of incentive as from the words 'get Ritsuka' she was already rushing towards the Master and grabbing him gently by the shoulder and leading him away.

Cat stabbed her claws into the ceiling, using them as her anchor point and then swung her body down so she was dangling from her arm, turning around to face the Servants and then blinking when she saw the spear in Ash's hand glow with ominous gold light.

"So where did you get a Divine Construct?" Cat asked as she tilted her head "Those things aren't supposed to be wielded-OI! She cried out as she jumped away moments before a blast of gold lightning could strike her, Ash turned the spear and re-aimed it towards her, unleashing another blast of lighting from the weapon towards the girl as she continued to jump from point to point.

"'Go to a concert' she said." Ritsuka complained as Kiyohime dragged him behind the pair, wincing at the crackle of lightning and the thunderous crash of ceiling tiles being vaporised "'It'll be fun' she said. Yeah, next time I'm planning the concerts!"

"I don't see it ending any differently than right now." Romani helpfully supplied with a shrug "But then again, who could predict an ancient fox spirit showing up?"

"Not helping Roman!"

Arkon jumped forwards, thrusting his sword into the centre of the cross-shield and being rewarded with a heavy clang of metal. The knight grimaced as his blade skated downwards along the surface and to the left. Arkon turned his body with the strike, raising his arm up and swinging it around like a club and slamming his shield into the side of Mash's. The girl remained stationary before she pushed backwards and Arkon forwards.

The knight then raised his sword as Siegward slammed his own weapon into it, Arkon pulled his weapon back before going into a thrust, Siegward countered, batting the sword aside with his larger weapon and bringing it back around towards him. Arkon raised his shield, catching the blow against the flat surface and then stomped forwards, shoving Siegward away and turning back towards Mash as she rushed in.

The girl swung the greatshield with freighteing ease, he leaned back to barely avoid catching the base of the weapon against his cheek, for a moment it looked as though Mash had overextended herself as her body followed through with the strike and turned away from him. Then she leaned herself forwards and raised her right leg in a high kick. Arkon grunted as she caught him in the gut and knocked him away from her.

Using the power of her kick, he jumped off the ground to gain some distance and reevaluate his position. His expression was hidden behind his helmet much like the Catarinan, only Mash's face was visible and set in a visage of grim determination, her eyes darting towards Siegward and then back to him.

Mash rushed forwards, spinning her body around and then hurling the shield towards him, the metal rotring through the air as it approached. Arkon widened his eyes behind his helm and ducked down to avoid the shield as it flew over his head. Mash jumped into the air, raising her left leg above her head and then swinging it downwards. Arkon leaned back before contact, her heel slamming into the ground like a sledgehammer and cracking the tiles beneath her foot.

The pair stared at each other in silence for half a second before Arkon punched her in the face with the handle of his sword. Mash released a grunt as he knocked her away, wincing internally at the strange manner by which her head felt tougher than he had been expecting it too. Raising his shield to cover his head, he heard and felt the clang of Siegwards sword colliding with his guard before he pushed back and swung towards the Catarinan.

Siegward stepped in close, raising her left hand and grabbing the longsword at the base of the weapon before it had enough time to pick up speed. Siegward and Arkon struggled with each other, Arkon's shield keeping Siegwards greatsword locked in pace against his own armour while Siegward tightly grasped onto Arkon's longsword and stopped it from moving, not even showing any sign of discomfort even as the grinding sound of metal scraping against metal filled their ears.

Rapidly approaching footsteps caused Arkon to snap his head to the side, his eyes widened in alarm behind his helmet as he watched Mash virtually sailing through the air towards him, her left hand cocked back and her hand clenched into a fist. Despite the fact she was about to punch him, her eyes were calm and collected, without a trace of emotion on her face. Arkon would have praised the professionalism if he wasn't about to be on the receiving end of it. Thinking quickly, the Knight stamped down on Siegward's foot as hard as he could.

Siegward let out a gasp as he hopped on one leg, Arkon shoved him away and managed to pry his sword free from the Knight's grasp. Mash's feet thudded against the ground as she landed, her entire body swinging towards him with her fist rocketing towards his face. Arkon swung sideways, using the face of his sword and aiming for the side of her head. Mash ducked down, the sword sweeping through nothing but air and launched her right hand towards his gut with her hand outstretched.

Her palm slammed into his gut and earned a near inaudible grunt from the man, it was a strong blow but nothing debilitating. Arkon cocked his left arm back, aiming his shield at her hand and swinging it downwards. He then noticed the flash of light in her right hand brighten considerably before he felt as though he'd been struck in the chest by a Chaos Demon. This time he released a much louder grunt of pain as he found himself catapulted away from the girl, vaguely noticing that she now had her shield in the hand she had struck him with.

Another gasp worked its way from his mouth as he slammed into the wall behind him, feeling bricks crunch as the weight of his armour impacted it and finding himself wedged into the wall. He pulled himself free and raised his shield, watching as Mash rocketed towards him and thrust the bottom of the shield up towards his guard like a spear. The attack battered his arm wide, worse was when the shield didn't stop in its uppercut motion and he became aware of the cross section now rushing straight towards his chin.

With no real room to manoeuvre, all he could really do was watch as the edge of the shield closed in on him. He heard the heavy clang of the crossguard striking his chin, then his head snapped back and buried itself in the wall, his feet briefly leaving the ground as it happened.

Mash pulled the shield back, Arkon staggered out of the hole, then she spun on her heel and delivered a roundhouse kick into his gut and sent him crashing through the wall in a shower of dust and bricks and onto his back into the next room. The knight groaned as he rolled onto his side, shaking his head and pushing himself back onto his feet - albeit shakily - as he turned to face her.

"I've been hit by Chaos Demons, girl." Arkon rebuked her as he rolled his shoulder, staring at her without making an effort to move "You will need to try harder than that to-"

Mash stepped to the side, allowing him to see what was behind her.

He blinked as he saw Siegward with his arm cocked back and a whirlwind spinning around his greatsword before he thrust it forwards, the gale shooting through the hole in the wall and taking with it all the bricks and ruins from his crash before it slammed into him like a hammer. Arkon's feet left the ground and he experienced a moment of weightlessness before he went crashing through yet another wall and then across the length of the room and then colliding with the wall and denting it inwards. He had barely a moment to contemplate what just happened before the flying debris caught up with him and slammed into his body, burying him in rubble.

Mash turned around to face Siegward, then gave him a grateful smile and a nod. Siegward nodded in kind before he paused and looked at the holes in the walls and the pile of rubble at the very end of them. "You don't suppose we went too hard, do you?"

Mash blinked before she opened her mouth, peering around the corner and staring at the rubble once again, squinting her eyes she watched as several pieces of brick fell away and revealed Arkon slumped against the wall, his head hanging low. The girl gave a pleased smile and turned back to the knight "He's unconscious, I believe."

"Ah, good!" Siegward nodded his head in response, then turned around and pointed towards the opposite end of the room "Then maybe we should help-"

"Sh-"

"-it!" Ash cried out in pain as Tamamo landed on his back and sunk her claws into his shoulder, the Saber reached up to grasp at her only for the girl to throw herself over him, landing on the ground and rolling forwards. Dragging Ash with her before she got onto her feet and hurled him over her shoulders and into a table.

Wood splintered and food went flying as Ash crashed through the bench with a grimace, he rolled back to his feet and ignored the puncture wounds in his body as he grabbed the sword spear with his right hand and thrust it upwards. Cat leaned back, smirking as the blade passed just above her face before she flipped and kicked upwards as she did so. Ash's aim went wide and the spear was almost pulled from his hands. The Saber grimaced before he threw his left hand forwards and unleashed a blast of fire from his palm. Cat hissed at the proximity of the ominous black fires. She jumped back as Ash scrambled to his feet and chased after her, sweeping the swordspear towards her and almost catching her in the chest.

Her agility was simply superior to his and she was hitting harder than him. Ash internally frowned, most opponents he had faced weren't this savage in battle. Even mimics - while just as strong - weren't nearly this fast and could be abovided. The simple truth was that when it came to close range combat, he hadn't much practice in it. Swordplay and mid-distance was something he could handle reasonably well.

A brawl just wasn't something one got into, not unless they wanted to end up dead.

Cat hunched her body back preparing to pounce again as Ash thrust the spear towards her head, the girl leaned her body to the side as the spear went past. Ash twisted the weapon so the flat end was facing her and then channelled magical energy into it. The spear crackled with golden lightning, as if it were an electric fly trap the lightning instantly rushed onto Cat.

The Berserker let out a loud squealing noise as her hair stood on end, lightning rushing over her before it exploded in a puff of smoke and sent her flying away from him and into the floor. Cat shook her head, her eyes dazed as her ear twitched occasionally with a burst of electricity.

She blinked profusely, then shook her head and looked up as Kiyohime loomed over her with narrowed eyes before she took in a deep breath. Cat promptly paled and scrambled to her feet before Kiyohime breathed out a wave of fire onto the girl, Cat released a panicked cry as she scrambled away with her clothes on fire, rolling around on the floor to put out the flames and refocusing back on Kiyohime.

The last thing she saw was a metal boot racing towards her face before her vision blacked out.

Ash watched as the Berserker flipped through the air before landing face first into one of the pudding trays scattered along the floor. When she didn't immediately make an effort to move, he allowed his shoulders to drop, wincing at the pain still haunting them. He looked at the injuries and frowned when he saw the puncture marks in his armour.

"This is becoming an unfortunate habit." He groaned to himself before shaking his head and looked back towards his bottomless box, he knew he still had some repair powder he could use for his equipment. He briefly paused to consider whether or not Da Vinci could attempt to make more or if he could show some to Pharros, given that she was more intimately familiar with his home equipment.

Dismissing the notion for another time, he opened up his bottomless box and withdrew the small wooden bowl filled with a golden power. Pinching some between his fingers, he held it atop the openings in his armour and sprinkled some of the powder over the openings and looked away as the fabric and metal started to knit itself closed, the armour reverting to its more pristine condition than from before the fight.

It didn't mean there weren't holes in his body but he could heal those easily enough in a few moments. He directed his attention towards Cat, noticing her still face down in the custard pie, occasionally twitching as a jolt of yellow electricity ran through her. He turned his attention towards the others, then pointed at her "She's unconscious."

"She is?" Ritsuka called out, standing up from behind another he had used to hide before releasing a sigh, he directed his attention towards the other end of the room where Mash and Siegward as they approached the trio. "How did it go with the knight?" He looked past the duo and raised an eyebrow at the hole in the wall. "Went well?"

Siegward nodded his head in response, throwing a thumb over his shoulder "It was a terrible shame to cross swords with a man whom I had shared a drink with but he's still alive." he gave a sigh of relief "So…what do we do now?" he nodded towards Cat "Do we wait for her to awaken or do we continue on?"

"You could probably question her now." Romani stated through the communicator "I mean…that's assuming she has anything sensible to say." he added on with a strained expression before he looked towards the Director "What do you think?"

Olga was standing behind Romani with a dull look on her face, she looked down at the man with a blank expression before looking back towards the screen and at Ritsuka. "...Take whatever choice you believe is right. That said, we know not how many more obstacles lie in your path through this location. Therefore either consult her or the knight. The Knight is of preference considering he appears to be the most coherent of the two."

"Right, right…" Ritsuka nodded his head, then looked towards Mash and Siegward before looking past them once again "He's unconscious as well, isn't he?"

The pair nodded once.

Sighing to himself, Ritsuka looked around before he found one of the chairs lying down on the floor, moving over to it he flipped it back onto its legs before sitting himself down. "Guess we just need to wait to see which one of them wakes up first then, don't we?"

"Quite right, too." The group turned as one to the familiar voice.

Patches stood in the corner with a plate of food in his hands and a casual smile on his face, he noticed all their odd looks before he frowned and shrugged "What? Waste not, want not." he explained as he nodded towards the passed out Servant "She is hardly going to be complaining about it and it would be a great shame if all this food went to waste when it could go towards a better purpose."

Ritsuka stared at the man in silence before he looked back around at the table "...Should we grab some of the fruit?"

Romani blinked before he gave Ritsuka a surprised look through the communicator "Are you suggesting we loot the castle for food?"

"Just the fresh stuff." Ritsuka explained easily as he gestured around "They did say it was a banquet for us. It just makes this a takeaway situation." he grimaced as he looked at the foodstuff painting the walls and the floors "Besides…I think we've hit the point in time where some of it is beyond edible."

Romani opened his mouth to respond before he promptly closed it again, looking over his shoulder at Olga for guidance.

"Take what you can. Fresh produce." She ordered "Fruits and uncooked vegetables, cheese and bread. We can keep them refrigerated back in Chaldea and use them later. There is little sense in overlooking this opportunity." she paused "Also trade with Patches and see if you can get more materials from him. This time let me do the talking."

"Oh?" Patches raised an eyebrow at her before a smirk came to his face "Someone who claims to have the right sort of discerning eye to find the treasures that lay within Patches boutique of wonders eh? Well, far be it from me to dissuade you." he chuckled to himself as he picked up a bread roll and took a large bite out of it "I certainly hope you have something to trade."

Ritsuka rubbed the bridge of his nose before he waved Ash over to him and then gave him the communicator "I'll handle food gathering, you and the director can go shopping."

Ash stared at him with blank eyes, then looked towards Olga and Romani through the screen before giving a single nod of affirmation "Very well." he turned back in the direction of Patches and walked towards him, the man raised a single finger in Ash's direction to cue him to wait while he chewed.

"Okay guys." Ritsuka clapped his hand and stood back up "Food Fight looting is a-go. Grab what you can and find a bag. We'll send it back to Chaldea and then continue on our way once either…" he stared at Tamamo cat with a blank expression before his eyebrows rose in disbelief "Sorry, I'm really having a hard time believing she's an aspect of Tamamo-no-mae." he looked around "I've been to the stone!"

"The…stone?" Siegward raised a lone eyebrow at him behind his helmet.

"The stone where she is supposedly sealed." Mash explained to him "It was said that the spirit of Tamamo-no-mae became trapped in a stone which killed everyone who approached until a Buddhist monk exorcised her, leaving the stone behind as a memorial for her." she paused. "Apparently it is also a popular tourist destination."

"People go to a stone that might kill them?" Siegward tilted his head in confusion "Whatever for?"

"They don't really believe it will kill them." Ritsuka explained "A lot of this type of thing is considered mythology so people don't think it's real."

Siegward stared at him "...But it is real though, isn't it?"

"It is. Yep." Ritsuka nodded his head "But they don't know that so its fine-hey!" he called out, smiling widely and ducking down behind one of the flipped tables. The other three stared at him with pensive expressions before he re-emerged, holding a large circle of cheese above his head with a look on his face as if he had found the Holy Grail "Cheese!"

"What type?" Siegward asked, titlign his head. Ritsuka blinked at him before he lowered his arms and stared at it.

"Erm…yellow?"

Siegward snorted before he stepped forwards "I'll have a look, I'm quite good at recognising cheeses, even if I can't taste them anymore." he stopped next to the boy and removed his helmet, squinting at the block of cheese and narrowing his eyes "Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmm. Just as I suspected!" He turned around and said, "It's Astoran gold."

Mash stared at him with a blank look "Erm…we don't know what that is though? Our cheeses have different names."

"They do? Erk…oh, right, yes…they do, don't they?" Siegward muttered to himself, then looked at the cheese again "...In that case I do not know what to say."

"...Lets just call it cheese and show it to Archer." Ritsuka sighed to himself "He'll probably know. He's good at this sort of thing." he nodded around to the others "See if we can find any bread and someone make a note to ask Archer if he can make crackers."

"Crackers?" Siegward tilted his head "Some manner of food that cracks?"

"Something like that, yeah." Ritsuka nodded "These little biscuit things but they aren't biscuits."

Siegward stared at him "...I don't follow."

"I'm really not good at explaining food, am I?"

"Don't worry, Anchin-sama." Kiyohime reassured him with a smile "Your lack of knowledge in certain areas is just part of your charm. It means that there is always room for us to learn new things together."

"Right, right…" Ritsuka idly replied as he waved his hand, then looked towards Cat as the woman released a faint groan. "Huh…looks like she's waking up." he shrugged "Guess we're asking here." he then looked down at the cheese in his arms "Also can someone take this? It's heavier than it looks."