Chapter 149: The Charity Case

"I found Tom first." Sulyvahn explained to her as they both ventured towards the ground floor once more, leaving the children in the cellar to share the bread amongst one another. Jeanne had no illusions about the quality of the food but the orphans looked as though they had precious little choice in what they were able to eat. As it stood, they got what they got and that was the end of it. "He was protecting his little sister Rose when I came across the pair of them."

A troubled frown came upon his face "...I hadn't been around long, it was just the pair of them huddled away in the back of some alleyway and covered in snow. They'd all but lost hope when I stumbled upon them." reaching up, he rubbed his temples and let out a sigh "In truth, I hadn't even been searching for anyone in particular, it was just a case of finding someone and they just happened to be the first."

"And so you took them with you?"

"I was most certainly not going to leave them there in the cold." Sulyvahn quickly replied with his hand coming away from his face, expression awash with indignation as though he'd found the sentence personally offensive to him. Hastily raising her right hand, Jeanne made a show of peace as she waved down his concerns, watching as the emotion faded away from his face.

"I did not mean to offend, I am just…" She searched for the right words she could use to explain it "I am in awe of the speed at which you decided to help them. Was it truly as soon as you laid eyes upon them?"

"Naturally." Sulyvahn replied without missing a beat, offering her a knowing smile "In much the same way I assume you would have rendered assistance to the pair of them." the smile cracked slightly, his amber eyes glancing to the side with a touch of pain to them. "Besides…I know the chill of Ariandel better than any other, I wasn't prepared to see them succumb to the cold of this world."

Jeanne opened her mouth, then closed it again. Once more, the history of Sulyvahn was alluded to with this place but it wasn't important, not truly. Especially considering it seemed more personal than she might have had right prying into having only met him less then ten minutes ago. "Which one was Rose?"

"Short girl, little scar under her right eye." Sulyvahn explained, making a show of pointing to his own eye for point of reference. "Wearing the ragged grey shirt that's a couple sizes too big for her. Blonde hair."

"She called you Sully?"

"Heh." A touch of a smile came upon his face, his cheeks dusting with a faint trace of red "Suffice to say that she's become rather taken with me, though I suspect the same would be true if anyone gave her warmth, clothes, food and a spot of kindness." he gave a sigh, glancing towards the trapdoor behind her "While I am certainly glad I was able to bring her spirits up…I'm troubled it reached such a point where only one of the dead could do something like that." another pause, then a shrug "Well, as long as she can still smile and move around in this cold then I am going to relish each moment of it."

"That's a…" Jeanne let out a breath, her features softening "That is a very noble attitude for you to have, Sully."

Sully raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms over his chest "Am I to giving you a nickname as well now?"

"It's not that, it is simply-"

"You need a way to differentiate me from him. Right?" Sully's features went blank, his voice toneless and his head jerked in the direction of the door they had come through. Jeanne fought back a wince at the sudden reaction, leaving it with no doubt in her mind that there was precious little love lost between Sully and Sulyvahn, though it would not be the first time someone looked poorly upon what they became.

She knew that Gilles would be disgusted with what he became if he ever saw it, she believed that at least. The man she knew.

"I'm fine with that." Sully quickly assured her "Though I'm sure you can imagine I'm not going to speak about him. Not if it can be helped." his lip curled down slightly and his eyes turned to the floor. "It's not something I would be comfortable with discussing and it doesn't really relate to our time at present."

Jeanne remained silent for a moment, then nodded her head "Is that why you saved me and left him behind?"

Sully didn't reply to her for a moment, then shook his head from side "No…I would have saved you both if I was able. But my relationship with the denizens here is…troublesome to say the least." he sighed, uncrossing his arms and falling back slightly, leaning against the wall and thudding the back of his head against it. "They know I'm around but I've kept to myself enough that they have elected to ignore me for the most part…"

"But?"

"But." Sully nodded his head "But that's already more or less broken now, I had hoped that I could have thrown up a blizzard and snatched the pair of you away into safety while you were fighting Dolion. He can move through the cold easily enough but he know that fighting me would be troublesome so he'd have broken off." a beat, then a sigh "But then Vilhelm showed up and that…I didn't prepare for that."

Jeanne frowned "The Caster I travelled with knew him."

"Well…I'd imagine so. He taught me the basics of swordsmanship when I lived in Ariandel." Sully explained with a shrug of the shoulders "He was good so I know a little bit about fighting without spells but I'm certainly not as good as the other me." he chuckled "The birch staff I'm running around with speaks for itself, I suppose."

"I see." Jeanne nodded her head up and down in understanding, it made enough sense to her considering his physical appearance. He would have been from a much earlier point in time than Sulyvahn and even if he was a Ruler, his physical parameters were certainly inferior to hers, though she wasn't to accuse him of being weak. He'd managed to save a good deal of people, the only conscious people he had seen so far, and kept them safe. "I assume you drifted and discovered the other children?"

Sully nodded his head once in confirmation "At first it was Tom and Rose. I had to use my spells to keep the cold at bay to protect them, I'm not sure if you know but the cold around here is-"

"It affects the minds, makes them despair." Jeanne gently cut him off, raising her hand "Su-Caster was able to deduce that much, though he claimed it to be false. Akin to taking paint onto a canvas? A trick of the mind."

"I suppose that is one way of looking at it, but it's a bit more than that." Sully explained "Though perhaps this is because it's my home I know it better than he does. It is forcing despair onto people and making them apathetic to the world around them but it struggles when it comes to painting new despair." he smiled softly "People need to lose something first, or already be experiencing some manner of despair, for the world to take hold."

Jeanne widened her eyes "Then the children-?"

"Tom was still holding out hope for the sake of his sister, and Rose put all her faith in her big brother." Sully remarked with a pleased chuckle, lips curled into an amazed smile "It was incredible, the amount of strength that the young children had in themselves and each other. As for the other children…I found them in more or less the same locations, Timmy has a crippled leg, so he'd been struggling to get around, Mike is a bit too young and just thought it was a little cold."

"Protected by innocence despite experiencing such hardship?" Jeanne widened her eyes ever so slightly. "Truly, the perseverance of a child is incredible."

"Incredible, but for every Rose and Tom I found, there were a dozen more lying half buried in the snow." Sully lamented, biting his lip and putting on an expression of annoyance, though it was directed towards himself more than anything else. "I grabbed who I could as I went, eventually finding this place with a basement and I bundled them all in there. Used what little knowledge of magic I had to keep them warm and disguise the entrance to the place."

"I assume you did so whenever you would leave?"

"I've been walking around in the storm finding what food I can." The Ruler explained with a troubled shrug "Breaking into the homes and stealing from those who live there might strike me as being cruel but…I would prefer to prioritise those who can still yet move. Perhaps that is my first compromise on everything." he shook his head "Those people have already lost something that made them accept this world…I would prefer not to be the cause for them to lose anymore, even if they are not aware of what I am doing to them."

"...You remain so troubled to steal to keep them alive?" Jeanne asked in surprise, then she tilted her head to the side. "I am…surprised to see how greatly you can be affected by the mere act of stealing a few loaves of bread."

"Perhaps, but I think that's where it starts." Sully sighed, reaching up and massaging his temples "First I steal bread and then it gets to stealing more and more, by the end of it I've stole enough from someone that they might eventually turn into the very people I'm trying to help in the first place." he glanced up at her, lowering his hand slightly "If that makes enough sense to you."

"It does…and your motives make sense to me." She paused, turning side on to Sully and gesturing towards the open trap door. "But for the time being, perhaps it would be better if you focused on the smiles of the people you can see before you, rather than the lamentations of those who you shall not see. It might be cruel to consider, but the children down there need you, do they not?"

"...Yes, I suppose they do." Sully admitted with a half hearted smile "I suppose it must be strange for me to confess these troubles to you over the course of a single conversation but I've been concerned with it ever since I began. Perhaps I just needed to say it out loud, I suspected the children wouldn't have been quite so…" he paused, rolling his hand in a circle as he thought of his next sentence "Reflective of my words and would have been quick to dismiss the people they didn't know in favour of those they did."

"I will not make claims as to whether they would or would not, but I am not ignorant to the nature of humanity. It is probably more natural to be worried for the safety of your friends and family rather than those of complete strangers." Jeanne felt a self-deprecating smile upon her face "Though I might not be the best to comment upon such things, as I regard all lives the same. Whether they be friends or enemies."

"Hmmm." Sully made a noise in response, then held his fist before his mouth and cleared his throat "That aside, it brings me to the original point of why I had hoped to save both of you. The city is shrinking and I needed aid to move the children." he frowned "In truth, I had walked out on the hope that I would not have been the only one here who would be willing to save them rather than leave them so when I stumbled upon the two of you…I reacted and made to save you."

The expression shifted into something akin to apprehension "But…my actions aren't unknown. She knows what I've done and she won't be ignoring me anymore. I could get away with saving one or two children because she was confident they would eventually fall to the cold but now that I've saved you, I have all but declared active rebellion against this world and she'll be coming to kill me."

Jeanne tensed up "Who do you speak of?"

"The one who controls this world, who has made this a copy of the Painted lands." Sully exhaled "We're standing in a soul made solid. Painted Land: Cold Made Comforting." he glanced away from Jeanne "It's a Reality Marble, I believe is the term that you use in this world…Every soul who ever existed in the Painted World of Ariamis and when it became Ariandel is here. The owner is a Goddess or minor one. I'm aware of her at all times and because I was technically summoned by her she is aware of me."

Jeanne took a half step backwards "Wha-?"

"It's…though she technically summoned me, I'm still in the Ruler Class." Sully explained to Jeanne before she could panic "It's mainly because I used her control of the Holy Grail to summon myself in this land. It's really something I could only achieve here but I had to try for no other reason than because I couldn't be sure anyone else would be here. I might have put my body into a Servant Class but she is still the one I was summoned on behalf of."

A pause "That likely makes precious little sense but I am an ally. She won't exert her control over me because that isn't in her nature. Though she will come to kill me, I could already feel her approaching when I found you, combined with Vilhelm there was little chance we would have stood against her."

"What about-"

"He'll have escaped, most likely. He knows how to use the world in much the same way as me and the moment he lays eyes upon her he'll know how dangerous she is."

"You have not yet spoken her name." Jeanne inquired with a tilt of the head "Why is…wait…"

"Hmmm. She won't control my actions but letting loose lips is still something she won't tolerate." The auburn teen nodded his head up and down in grim understanding "Because I was summoned after she had already passed, I don't know anything about her and whatever information I would have known about her was kept from me. So all I know is that the one who rules this world is a Goddess and that she's powerful but everything else…I'm afraid I would not be much help."

"Quite the contrary." Jeanne assured him, loosening her posture and giving her fellow Ruler an approving nod of the head "I would say you have been a tremendous boon thus far. With what you have achieved and with what you have told me."

"Information to grant you or not, that does not change my original intention in asking for your aid." Sully replied with a shake grunt, though his lip did twitch upwards at her comment. His eyes darted to the side to avoid actively looking at her. "I need to move the children once more, even with the Corvian Knights patrolling this land and with Vilhelm performing the bidding of the Goddess, there is still the matter of other Servants who yet reside in this world. Clearly there is another individual at play."

Jeanne blinked, then tilted her head "You are certain of this?"

"Speculation at best, but the influence of this land is far more subdued than it otherwise would be." He explained with a wave of his hand "And there is…I cannot explain it well, it feels as though something has been sending out messages to me. In the brief moments of reprieve I've…had dreams." he saw the raised eyebrow, then sighed and reached up to palm his temple "I am aware of how it sounds but I find myself in a grove of pale trees, their branches close in around me but it is…there is not a trace of maliciousness. Nor is it like the embrace of this world, it feels more…disconnected."

"How so?"

"...I cannot explain it well enough, in truth." Sully rubbed his head, expression scrunched up in thought "But all the same, I know there is someone out in this land calling to me and I feel a sense of kinship with them."

"You are certain it is not a trap?"

"If I was, I would have taken the children there long ago. I required help in the event it was a trap." Giving a hollow chuckle, he returned his eyes to the woman "Hence why I would have been tolerant to my other self, I know just how capable he is. Though who can tell where he is now…Regardless, I would understand if you did not so willingly wish to follow me. At best - if it is a trap - the children will not be killed…I would hope at least." he grumbled the latter part under his breath.

"I see." Jeanne gave a grim nod of the head "...I am not one to ignore prophetic visions either. With precious little else we might work with, it seems we must follow the dreams that plague your mind. Though I am not sure where you expect them to lead you."

"The dreams show me a tower, distant and tall. A bell rings each hour, it sits near a lake of ice and trees."

"...I believe I know the location you speak of."

"Good, for the environment is beyond my understanding. This world does not usually look like this. There exist far more fields and far fewer buildings." Crossing his arms once more, he glanced at the trapdoor. "I would advise waiting a few hours till the storm passes, then moving through the clear lands. We will be more easily spotted, but I will not chance the lives of my wards through the blind hope they do not lose their way in the storm."

The Saint nodded her head up and down "A troubling situation, and one without an easy solution to be made." thinning her lips, she put her weight on her right side and furrowed her brows "How certain are you that they will not harm the children?"

"In truth? Blind faith." Sully shrugged, snorting to himself as though he had said something amusing "I believe the Goddess will not so willingly shed blood in this world, we remain the sole exceptions because we seek to tear it down, but the children are still those who can be shown 'salvation' as it was so eloquently described." His lip curled, a flame of disgust burned in his eyes. "Not that I would ever refer to such a state of being as being saved. Rather it is one that you must be saved from."

He glanced back to the trap door "We should return to the children, they will need to know that we are moving once again. I'll let them get what little sleep they can before we begin the journey. By my count we should have…an hour or so left with this storm before we can depart."

"I did not know the storms ended."

"Each storm heralds the destruction of this city, the world of the Painted Lands closes in on us inch by inch as the storm lasts, with fewer and fewer minds presenting the image of what this city is, more of the land will be lost to the frozen wastes." Scratching his chin, Sully muttered "If I were to say…they were comfortable with the familiar land of the city of London, so that is what this world presented. But they are starting to accept the Painted World as their comfort-"

"Therefore the presence of the world expands, or perhaps it would be more fitting to say that it shrinks." Jeanne surmised with a frown "I see." turning her head to the trap door, her lip twitched upwards "Would you be so kind as to introduce me to the children? I believe it would be best for me to get to know them, especially if we are to be travelling companions."

Sully chuckled, "I suppose I could do such a thing. Besides, they will be pleased to see another adult they can look to for support."

"I'm not sure how supporting I can be."

"You'll find their criteria for a supporting adult to be shockingly low, to a point where I am rather concerned for this land." Sully sighed, stepping off the wall and walking past Jeanne towards the descending staircase "The mere fact I gave them a few rolls of crusty, stale bread was enough for them to believe me as someone who could be trusted. I know the sting of the cold as well as they…perhaps that is why they latched onto me as such. A single light in the dark can be as blinding as the sun."

"Such is the power of hope."

"Hmmm."

"So you've been here this whole time?"

"Uuug."

"Wow." Ritsuka hummed to himself, nodding his head up and down at the response he received from the red haired girl to his left, turning his head back to the desk in front of him and looking over whatever was in front of him. He didn't understand half of what it was, and the half that he did understand was in a vague sense of him going 'I'm sure this is important' and very little else. "So what did you normally do to pass the time?"

"Haa?"

"Hmmm. You know, hobbies?" He clarified with a wave of his hand, glancing towards the undead creation once more, tilting his head slightly. "I don't know if I'm prying or not here though, so feel free to let me know if you don't feel like answering anything."

He just got a blank stare in response.

"Ah…I guess not then." Thinning his lips, he considered what he was supposed to say in response "You remind me a lot of one of my friends." he paused, recalling what Arash had said about a certain blonde haired Saber. "Well, he doesn't think of us as friends, but I like to think we are so it's that. Or we're on friendly terms? That might be better." he chuckled "But yeah, he doesn't do all that much either and likes to speak when it matters."

"...Hm?"

"He's a little opinionated but I think that he means well, he's just a little confused about everything is all." He continued on, then paused to consider why that might be. Drumming his fingers on the table as he considered everything he knew about the Saber and then nodding to himself. "Actually, it's probably more than he's just not used to anything that we normally do here. Like he just hasn't gotten to experience any of it so he doesn't see the point in it."

"I personally don't see the point in your continued insistence on flapping your gums." As expected, Caster could no longer contain his annoyance and openly berated Ritsuka for his attempt at small talk. Not that he was all that surprised or bothered by the irritation of the Caster, it just meant that the Servant was at least paying attention to what he was saying rather than ignoring him.

"What's wrong?" Ritsuka turned to the ghostly visage of the Servant and raised an eyebrow "It's not like there's anything wrong with speaking to her, is there?"

"You expect to make sense of grunting noises?" Caster curled his lip, eyes dancing between the pair of them before scoffing. "Can you truly understand what she is saying?"

"I mean, I can't understand the grunts-" He admitted without hesitation, something that earned a noise from the girl, though his next words were quick to placate her. "-but I feel as though I can understand the general thoughts she puts into what she's saying, so it might not be a traditional conversation but it's a conversation nonetheless."

Casters only response was to pinch the bridge of his nose "...Your obsession with this aside, your dawdling once more. Resume your work and we might be able to locate your allies before the end of the day." lowering the hand, the Servant pointed towards the desk and the crystalline circle that had been placed upon it.

Ritsuka had found the power of a Servant really quite something, not least of all because he'd just had to focus his energy and he'd been able to construct that. It wasn't very easy and Caster said that was around the limit of his abilities, but it was still incredible for someone like him to be able to do that.

"Right, right…so how does this work again?" Ritsuka's eyes danced between the crystal the size of a dinner plate in front of him and the Caster, the latter looking slightly annoyed at the question. "I heard what you said but I just…how is it a map if it's blank?"

"Because we shall inscribe it with the knowledge obtained from the Familiars of the Miracle girl."

Ritsuka blinked, "That's a really nice thing for you to say."

"You simpleton, she's a living Miracle. The entire branch of magical craft is related to the stories and legends of time being made into a more tangible form. The girl is an accumulation of legends and is therefore a Miracle." Caster snapped at him with no small amount of indignation, Ritsuka felt his lip twitch into an awkward smile.

He should have figured Caster wouldn't call someone that.

"I shall present the knowledge of the Miracle to the forefront of my mind, and into yours. From which all you will be required to do is focus our magical energy onto the disk, the crystal will compose the necessary information and-" Caster cut himself off, staring directly into Ritsuka's eyes with an utterly blank expression.

The reason Caster was looking at him like that was probably because the Servant realised that he didn't understand a whole lot of what was being said to him. Which probably meant one of two things, he was either going to dumb it down for him to be able to understand, or he was going to insult him and just command he did as he was told.

"More evidence to the claim that even the dumbest of animals can learn if an event occurs often enough for them to recognise a pattern." Caster replied with an annoyed curl of his lips, then pointed his translucent hand towards the crystal "Just perform the task I have instructed of you."

"Fine, fine…" Sighing to himself, Ritsuka held his right hand over the disk and closed his eyes. It was a strange thing to suddenly have a myriad of thoughts that did not originate from you spring to the forefront of your mind, Ritsuka imagined to himself. That being said, the thoughts were not as foreign as he imagined they should have been, despite just coming to him without prompt they felt as though they belonged there.

He wondered if this was how Mash felt whenever she used the abilities of whatever Servant had offered her their powers.

His arm felt tingly, the tips of his fingers started to go numb and his muscles ached as though he had been working out for too long. Beads of warm sweat trickled down the side of his forehead, his lips twitched as he started to feel the effects of using the abilities of a Servant, as weakened as they were, it was apparent they were taking a toll on his body.

He was sure that Caster noticed it as well, though with his eyelids clenched shut he wasn't aware of the expression the Servant was making, he could feel his head starting to heat up, as though he'd been sitting next to a radiator for too long.

"Enough."

The voice of the Caster came as a relief, he exhaled and took a half step backwards with his eyes opening up once again. Making a small noise as he felt his back hit something other than empty space, glancing to his left he saw that the red haired girl was standing by his side, extending her left arm out to stop him in the event he fell backwards. He exhaled, flashing her a thankful smile that she responded to with a grunt of affirmation.

Looking to Caster, he would have given the Servant a smug expression save for the fact the Servant wasn't looking at him, instead they were staring down at the disk on the table with an unreadable expression. Raising an eyebrow, Ritsuka approached the table once more and looked between the two of them. Sure enough, there were now glowing blue lines on the disk.

They had been arranged into a pattern that almost looked like-

"It is a map of the city we reside in, though some of the details are difficult to discern." Caster stated before he could even finish the thought. "I will not let such stupid thoughts pass through your mind and irritate me. We are staring at a map of this 'London' though the longer I gaze upon it, the more I begin to question the existence of it in the first place."

That brought a raised eyebrow to his face, placing his hands on his hips and staring at the Caster in surprise. "What are you saying?"

"The Miracle told me that this land was similar to the 'Reality Marble' she is in possession of. Or similar in the sense that they both influence the mind of whomever is trapped within this world. The city of London is nothing more than a figment constructed in this false world made to influence the perception of the foolish and ignorant into believing this is a city lost in the tundra, as opposed to a realm unto itself."

"Reality Marble…Hmmm." He remembered what they were from that time in Rome, though the details were still a little fuzzy to him.

"It is a world that resides within the soul of an individual. Or rather it is the mental image of their body brought forth into the world through great clarity. I must offer credit where it is due, to so cleanly visualise your mental landscape and turn it from fiction into fact is not a feat to be scoffed at. Though the end result leaves much to be desired."

"So we're in a fake world?"

"This world is no more fake than the one you live in, it is merely that the buildings are illusions of the mind."

"How come I'm hearing about this now?"

"You did not even have the basic inklings of what a Reality Marble was, informing you of our predicament and the true nature of this world would be akin to informing an infant of the complexities of sorcery."

"Geez, Caster…why don't you tell me what you really think?"

Caster didn't even look at him after he said that, Ritsuka being left with a strong feeling of exasperation that most certainly didn't originate from him. If it were any other situation, the Master felt confident that he would have most definitely been receiving the 'silent treatment' for the better part of the rest of the day.

"Yet there is something that eludes me thus far." Instead he just ignored what he said entirely, pointing towards the map once more and towards the large section of the area that seemed to be utterly devoid of detail at all. A single blank circle.

Ritsuka furrowed his brows slightly "Did I miss?"

"To imply that would be to say there was a fault with my knowledge. I will not entertain your belief in fantasy." Caster replied without missing a beat, he personally found it incredible that the Servant could say something so amazingly arrogant without actually sounding arrogant in the least, he made such a declaration as easily as he would have told someone the weather after staring out the window. "The method of analysis was directed through the wind currents outside. With the storm being as powerful as it was and covering every inch of this land, there was nowhere the wind would not travel."

Ritsuka pointed at the map "Except there."

"...Clearly." The Caster made a noise "Which means that location is home to either something that the owner of this land intends to avoid, or another has managed to create a territory within this bounded field." the apparition moved to cup his chin, scratching it while his eyes narrowed. "Something which strikes me as incredible and concerning."

"How so?"

"Imagine you are God of an entire world, nothing happens within this land without your knowledge and permission. Even this city exists as a mere result of your whims." Caster glanced at him from the corner of a glowing eye, "Imagine the source of your powers is a receptacle of magical energy which will allow your world to last for an eternity." he raised a single finger "Now imagine that one of those outsiders you dragged into your world through mere happenstance, has the power to take a portion of your world and make it their own. Even if only in a small part."

"...I see the problem."

"Good. Because even I at the height of my power would not be capable of creating a complex bounded field within this world." He declared with absolute certainty "A spell to prevent the cold from entering is a simple enough feat, one which allows me to assert my own dominance over the owner? No."

"So that means that either it's something the person who owns the reality marble wants…or…"

"Or it is someone who does not belong and has long since outed themselves as hostile to them. My influence cannot penetrate that barrier from this distance and I have little doubt the owner is well aware of this blank smudge upon their soul at present." Turning away, the Caster floated through the table towards Ritsuka, passing through the wood without even registering it and already losing their outline as they did so.

"You out of mana?"

"Blame your own weakness. I can only accomplish so much in the form of a common human." Even as he said that - berating Ritsuka for something he couldn't help in the first place - the Master still flashed him a thankful smile, raising his thumb in a show of praise towards the Caster. Something that earned him a roll of the eyes in response.

"It's enough, we at least know where we're supposed to go now, right Fran?" He turned to the undead girl at his side, crossing his arms over his chest and maintaining his smile.

"Uuh?" The red haired girl froze, staring into his eyes from behind her bangs with a clear expression of surprise on her face, her head tilted to the side slightly as she seemingly looked him over with clear bafflement. Though Ritsuka was more certain it was due to her suddenly being named something from him.

"Uhm…Sorry if I overstepped." He apologised to her, raising his hand slightly and wincing "I just didn't know if you had a name so…do you have a name?"

"Nnh." A shake of the head.

That was good, it meant he could actually give her a nickname without feeling guilty.

"Fra-n." The girl parroted back to him, her manner of speech was broken and certainly sounded as though she was forcing each and every syllable out of her mouth. Ritsuka crinkled his brows ever so slightly, his lip pulling down. Not in annoyance directed towards her, but more in the fact that she couldn't speak all that well and it sounded as though she might actually be hurting herself when she did.

"Fr-a-n." She continued on, croaking the name again and again before she eventually stopped, turning her head to him and nodding once, "Fran."

"You alright with that?" Ritsuka raised his eyebrow at him "It's not very inspired so I can probably come up with something better for you if you give me the time to-"

"Fran."

"Still sticking with Fran?"

"Uug." Another nod of the head, this one rather fierce.

"Alright then." Raising his hands in surrender, he knew when he was beaten. Not quite able to keep the chuckle out of his throat as he walked around the girl. "Come on, Fran. We're gonna tell the others that there is a plan in place. Sort of."

"This is your bold strategy?" As expected, Llew was certainly a voice of countenance to the initial plan. Or maybe not quite against it as much as he was personally dubious about it? Ritsuka couldn't really tell all that much, but he figured that the knight just wanted to make sure of everything being in order before he committed to it. He couldn't fault him with that, if he was correct in assuming that.

The larger man crossed his arms over his chest, helmet tilting slightly to the side. "I had not expected much when you vanished into the library with Caster in tow…but even when you return with tidings, I still find them wanting." pulling his left arm away from his chest, he gestured towards Ritsuka "Do you not have more to speak of than this location simply being a land beyond the sight of this lands master?"

"At the moment? Not really." He wouldn't even attempt to argue otherwise, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head from side to side. Despite that, he didn't look away from the knight, even on account of the height difference between the two of them. "But since I got here, everything that I have been told is telling me this land is more or less something that not many people can figure out quickly."

Raising his hand, he jerked a thumb over his shoulder "Caster said that anyone who could carve out their own little pocket of land in a Reality Marble when the owner is supported by a Holy Grail is someone who has declared themselves an enemy of the owner. Especially if the influence of the cold doesn't reach them…It sounds like a sanctuary to me."

"A shared enemy does not make an alliance." Llew responded evenly, then turned his head towards the gothic figure of Nursery Rhyme "But I am no expert on matters involving souls. What do you make of this, Lady Rhyme?"

"Caster is not wrong when he speaks of the difficulty in such a feat." Nursery nodded her head up and down, it fell in line with what Ritsuka had heard and it made sense to him. Creating a world out of yourself sounded pretty hard already and would likely make you fairly powerful inside it, or at least you'd know what goes on. "And if the absence of the owner's influence is as great as Caster states it to be, then we can be assured this place remains one of the few safe locations in this world."

Despite saying that, Nursery's face soon shifted into a troubled frown "Don't misunderstand me, Mister Ritsuka. I mean safe in the sense it makes whomever is responsible safe from the Reality Marbles owner. Perhaps not as safe as us…and I cannot begin to imagine how strong you would need to be to accomplish this."

"What do you mean?"

"It is possible to combat a Reality Marble with another Reality Marble but it would turn into a shoving match." A cute frown came upon her face, raising one of her mechanical arms and placing an index finger on her chin. "It would be like the three little pigs. The winner is the one who remains standing at the end."

"So it's just who has more magical energy?"

"Yes. If I tried to manifest my reality marble…It would not even achieve form before it was crushed into nothing." The frown shifted into a saddened expression. "I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not mad, or anything, Nursery. So it basically means that whatever this is…is either the owner - in which case, great we found where the enemy is - or it's someone who isn't affiliated with the owner because they're cutting off the influence of the world."

"Or they are an extension of our foes' will, granted land within this domain in the same way a lord grants territory to their vassals." Llew was quick to speak up, throwing in a new possibility with a grim tone of voice about him, something that had Ritsuka blink as he didn't consider it. "As I said, we cannot be too quick to judge and we understand very little of the outside world beyond the intermittency of storms and the presence of Avian knights."

Placing his hands on his hips, Ritsuka let out a sigh "...I'm honestly stuck on what else we can do though." he remarked. Because he truly was at this point, being left with two options he could see and neither one of them could be considered very good, or at least they both had their downsides. Raising his hand, he brought up his index finger "We either investigate the strange location and see what is going on," he brought up his middle finger "or we go walking around the city and looking for my allies without the first idea where to go. Even if we meet up with them, I'm not sure if they're gonna know anything more than I am."

Llew shook his head from side to side "This location is unlikely to vanish for the time being, if it has lasted this long and is as rare as you all claim, then it is clearly a fortified location. Supposing it is not an enemy to begin with, the second option grants us the chance of recruiting more allies to the cause." Ritsuka could feel the eyes narrow behind the helmet "And I am sure you would be pleased to regroup with your friends…no?"

"That…" He blinked once.

That made sense. That made much more sense.

"Huh…Yeah, you're right…" He felt a slight headache, reaching up and rubbing his temples "Sorry…that was pretty weird, wasn't it?" the words came out as a low mutter. He should be more focused on finding Mash and the others, especially since he had contracted with a not insignificant contingent of Servants and the aid of one undead. He stood a better chance of finding her now than he did by himself."

Lowering his hand, he faced Llew "Yeah, yeah…we should probably go looking for everyone else first, shouldn't we?"

Llew stared down at him in silence, uncrossing his arms "Are you well? Surely the presence of the Caster has not rotted the sense of your mind?"

"He's not that bad." Ritsuka at least felt the need to defend his unusual hitchhiker, he might have been rude and very insensitive, but he had helped them so far and it was because of him that they had their first clue. "So how do you normally conduct a search?" Quickly shifting topics away from the unnamed Caster, he titled his head at Llew "Because my plan was just to go outside and shout their names at the top of my lungs…but I get the feeling that would be a bad idea."

"...It would be a moderately acceptable idea-"

Really?

"-if you were devoid of a will to survive."

That figured.

"Charging out into a land we know precious little of and announcing not just your own existence, but the existence of your allies would tell our enemies two things." Llew raised his right hand as he spoke, the first finger came up. "You are devoid of your regular contingent of allies, meaning that whatever comrades you have obtained will not have acceptable levels of unity between them. Which we do not." the second finger came up "You are an idiot without the sense for subtly."

"...I could have told you the second one."

"Hmph." Lowering the hand, the knight gestured to the direction of Nursery "As it stands, Lady Rhyme is capable of empowering tomes to turn into her servants. They act as her eyes and ears throughout the world."

"You can do that?" He turned his head to the girl with wide eyes "Like…you can actually make books come alive?"

The girl giggled, raising her hand to cover her mouth "That would be a little silly, Mister Ritsuka." lowering the hand, she maintained her amused smile. "But I can ask them to do me some favours, like playing hide and seek with everyone, or to go sightseeing."

"Sounds suitably fictitious."

"I'm not ly-" The girl cut herself off, then placed her hands on her hips and leaned forwards in her chair, squinting at the teenager. "...Was that a pun, Mister Ritsuka?"

"...Maybe."

A smile danced upon her lips "That was a very good one."

"Thanks." He returned his attention to Llew "So Nursery can scout for us so we at least have an idea where to go. I assume that you're the 'muscle' so to speak?"

"I am experienced in fighting, yes."

Turning around, he faced Fran with a troubled frown. He wasn't going to leave her behind but at the same time, he didn't know what she was capable of. "Fran…do you want to come with us?"

"Uh!" A nod of the head.

"Alright, you can stay with me and we can keep pace with Nursery. We're not exactly front line fighters-"

"Aaa!" Fran cut him off with a growl, stamping her heeled boot into the ground and then turning around, marching away around the corner and still moving loud enough that her steps echoed throughout the halls of the home.

Ritsuka himself was left blinking as he watched her leave, then turned around to face the other two "...Uhm…was it something I said?"

"Not to my knowledge." Llew shrugged his shoulders, making a puzzled noise "I do not understand how useful she could be with her current attire and lack of weaponry. Entering a battle while wearing a dress of all things is hardly going to allow you a long and prosperous life in this world." though he did turn the helm towards the direction of Nursery for a moment, as if recalling she was still in the room. "Notable exceptions aside."

"Why am I a notable exception?" Nursery raised an eyebrow at the pair of them "I'm going to fight with a dress, aren't I?"

"You are a Servant with a set talent in sorcery…There is also very little good that armour would serve someone of your age and stature." The knight grunted out, turning back around as if dismissing her. Before Nursery could respond, the thudding echoes of Fran's stomping reached their ears once more, getting louder and louder as the girl returned from wherever she had been.

The group glanced at the door once more.

Then watched as Fran came around the corner, brandishing a rather large mace in her hands, smooth topped and with grooves running through the centre that looked as though it was meant to come apart horizontally. Fran looked around the room, then slammed the base of her weapon into the ground, with a loud snapping noise, heralding the appearance of cracks in the floorboards.

"...I will retract my earlier statement." Ritsuka hastily replied, now faced with an undead wielding a large club weapon. He might have imagined it, but he could swear that a briefly smug expression crossed the face of the girl, though it was so fleeting that he could not confirm it. "Fran can fight with us."

"...That remains to be seen." Llew muttered out, then waved Ritsuka aside "I shall determine this."

"How?"

"I want her to hit me as hard as she can."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea-"

"I will not be satisfied unless I am certain she is capable of defending herself." He was interrupted by the stern words of the knight, his tone brooking no further argument and making it perfectly obvious to all involved that he would not be taking no for an answer.

Ritsuka thinned his lips, then glanced at Fran "...Well?"

"...Uggg!" Seemingly incensed by the words of the knight, the girl nodded her head vigorously and stepped forward, pulling the mace off the ground and clasping it with both hands like a bat.

"I would advise you to step backwards." Llew's warning came next, not at all looking intimidated by the display in the least. It was difficult to guess what he was feeling, Ritsuka would have guessed bored or disinterested but if that was true, he wouldn't have pushed the matter in the first place. Or it wouldn't make sense for him to do so. "A single strike will suffice."

"Haa!" Fran hurled herself forwards as Ritsuka scrambled backwards, kicking off the ground and blinking in surprise as the room blurred past him at a much faster rate than he had been expecting.

Ah, right.

He was technically housing a Servant, so he had Servant level agility.

Whoops.

That was the thought that went through his head as he propelled himself upwards through the house and halfway through the rafters, leaving his lower half dangling from the ceiling while his upper half was jutting through the flooring of the room above.

"What in the bloody-!?"

Sounds of alarm came from beneath him, Ritsuka felt a wave of embarrassment rush through him.

He didn't mean to do that.

"I leave you in control for a measly five minutes and your first use of my physical improvements is to vandalise my dwelling? I had known you to be stupid, but I had not thought you a hooligan." Caster's dismissive voice - rather predictably - echoed through his head not even ten seconds later. As expected, he sounded rather upset.

"Not like I was aiming for the floor." He grumbled back indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing down at himself. Closing his eyes and cringing at the sight of the broken wooden boards around his waist, especially the feeling of his legs being rather useless as they dangled around him. The upside to all of this was that he hadn't crashed upwards and underneath a rug or something.

That would probably have been even worse.

"Worse than our current state? This is a shameful display that reflects poorly on me. How dare you embarrass me in this manner, oaf."

"Yes, yes…In my defence, you said I was getting your knowledge, not your physical skills." Ritsuka grumbled back with a frown, shrugging his shoulders "I was expecting to send myself a half step away from the fight, not go 'Blasting off again' straight into the first floor."

"It should have gone without saying that I would make physical improvements to your body just so that it could contain the sliver of power I could use within you." An irritated growl came next "Clearly I must reassess what constitutes what manner of information you are capable of inferring through non-verbal means."

"Yes, yes…the Director is gonna have a field day when she finds out about this though." Despite the frown, he still felt relatively good about his situation. Mainly because he wasn't injured at all, perhaps there was a slight sting on the top of his head but it was like accidentally knocking his head against a shelf, rather than shooting through nearly five inches of solid wood.

"So how did you do that anyway? I thought using magic spells would have been challenging?"

"I simply utilised my Noble Phantasm." Came the response from Caster "It was a simple enough enhancement, with our contract established I was able to utilise it in order to influence your body directly. Though it cannot strengthen your capacity to perform Magecraft…Influencing the mana of this world is impossible for me to achieve, therefore I am reliant on your own magical abilities. Which do not exist."

"You're using a Noble Phantasm?" Was the part that he picked up on "Isn't that going to be really draining on you?"

"It is a continually active Noble Phantasm at this point in time. If I had my original body, then it would not be necessary. The requirements change drastically depending on whatever form I am inhabiting. A human is the lowest I could have descended to."

"Oh, alright then." A nod. "So long as you aren't pushing yourself too much. But you'll probably give me some long winded rant about how I'm an imbecile for assuming that you wouldn't understand your own capabilities, right?"

"If you knew what I was to say, for what purpose would you even make the attempt of speaking to begin with?"

"Just felt like it."

He wondered if the others were having trouble like this.

Something clasped around his ankle at that moment, a rather tight grip as well. In any other situation, he might have been a touch more alarmed about an - as of yet - unseen force grabbing him.

Instead he just glanced down, raising an eyebrow and at the cracked flooring around him. Raising his voice, he called down as loud as he could. "I'm alright!"

A beat.

"Good!" Llew's muffled shout replied to his call "Be patient a moment!"

It wasn't like he could do much else in this situation. Then again, he could always try pressing his hands against the floor to push himself up and out of the hole. But there was every chance he could put his fists through the wooden planks.

He didn't know his own strength at the moment so he should probably be careful when it came to sudden movements or trying to exert himself.

Whether he would have succeeded in freeing himself under his own power soon became a moot point. Especially as he felt a tug on his legs before the world blurred past him once again.

"Hnng!" A grunt passed through his lips as he felt his body turn as he was pulled free of his oak prison. Solid supports now placed under his knees and behind his shoulders.

Blinking several times, he glanced up at his rescuer and found the boxed helm of Llew staring back down at him. Though the knight had no words to give, Ritsuka felt as though they would have been redundant.

The palpable aura of exacerbation more than made up for it, not at all hampered by the helmet obscuring the face of his saviour. Ritsuka figured it was rather impressive to be able to do that.

Regardless of that, he still felt the need to explain himself.

"In my defence." He shuffled in the arms of the knight, pointedly ignoring the princess carry he was in. Or how safe it made him feel. "I didn't know I was going to be able to do that."

Llew remained silent, then slowly moved his body and turned it at an angle, positioning himself to lower Ritsuka feet first, once the boy was safely deposited he took a single step backwards, his arms now crossed over his chest.

At this point, Ritsuka felt like a child standing in front of a disappointed parent.

"Thanks for the help, though."

"..."

"I'll be careful in future?"

"..."

"...Sorry?"

"...Hmph." Llew turned away from him, glancing up towards the hole now present in the ceiling. "I had not expected you to display that measure of dexterity, agility or endurance. Evidently Caster has influenced you in some physical capacity…regardless, it does not change your role from being a non-combatant." He lowered his helmet once more. "Speaking of which, the girl can accompany us."

"Oh, did she hit you?"

"No. I caught her mace with ease the moment you took flight into the rafters." The knight stated without even breaking his voice "However I was forced to use some small measure of my strength against her to stop the blow, I am content that it should be enough to best the creatures outside."

"So are we gonna go out then?"

"I would question the wisdom in sending all our numbers to search for your allies…but this is unfamiliar territory and splitting away into smaller groups would only serve to present more appealing targets. Therefore it would be best if we all travelled as one." Turning around, Llew marched back across the room "Get yourself prepared, there should be some winter clothing for you to take."

Ritsuka blinked at the authoritative tone.

"We leave as soon as you are prepared." A beat "And when the storm looks as though it will break."

"...Aren't I supposed to be the Master?"

"Do you have experience in leading search parties through hostile territory?"

"...No."

"Then sit back and let someone with experience handle it."

Ritsuka just blinked once, then looked down to the ground for a moment, slowly raising his head once more and looking towards Fran, the girl with a slight frown on her face. "...One of those days, huh?"

"Nnh?"