Talk:Halloween 2016 Event Rerun/@comment-32856683-20171004081102

 A Rondo of Fate and Mystery - Bonding Chapter 

 Much to Mashu’s never-ending surprise, this demon was not inclined to turn into a pillar of pus and twitching eyes to give them a surprise boss fight. Indeed he seemed quite startled about hers and Ritsuka’s sudden hostility as he gave his identity away.

  “Your caution speaks for you, young Miss, but it is unnecessary,” the demonic butler spoke, again with his pleasant smile. “I am well aware that you are making yourself a name by defeating my brethren, but I myself was just summoned to serve tea, not to pick a fight. Unless my mistress asks me, that is...”

 “Don’t fool around like this...,” Mashu was pulling her Master behind her, summoning her shield as a defensive measure.

 “Oh please come on, Mashu, we have fought the whole day!” Elizabeth complained with an eye-roll. “Enough is enough. And you guys were complaining about my take on hospitality...”

  Mashu looked around. Nitocris was nodding in agreement, Ibaraki as well. Robin shrugged. Suddenly she found herself pretty much alone. Except...

 “What do you say, Sempai?  “O...kay... I guess that means we trust you, Mr. Ronove. For now...”
 * Brrr...
 * I can’t feel my fingers...
 * I can’t feel my fingers...

  And with that she made her shield disappear and allowed the strange butler to fetch a couple of towels for her and Ritsuka.

 The allocation of the rooms went easily enough. They were a little short-staffed on them due to other guests being there, so they were forced to share rooms. All of them were on the first floor, with Ritsuka and Robin sharing the first one, Mashu and Nitocris the second one and Ibaraki and Elizabeth the third one. They were all next to each other, wall to wall.

 “What a conservative choice. And here I thought you would be more interesting guests...,” the weird butler complained after they had settled in and Ritsuka returned from a hot shower to drive away the cold.

 “I guess it will get lively no matter what you expect...,” Nitocris said amiably. Mashu cleared her throat in attempt to change the topic:

 “You said something about other guests...”

 “Right, right. Follow me to the dining room. It is time for the evening meal in any case, so it is better to make introductions!”

 The odd group was lead down the stairs once again and passing the portrait, they arrived in a big room with a long and lavishly decorated table stacked with expensive looking silverware. On the side of the table sitting adjacent to them, four people sat. The first was a young man with glasses in a beige suit, next to him was a pony-tailed girl in similarly dressed up attire. Then came a young man of roughly the same age as the girl, with unkempt red hair and wearing a rather flashy white and red suit, next to him was a small primary school age girl with a black crown on her head. They all wore the same golden eagle emblem somewhere on their clothes that was both apparent on the butler’s sleeve and woven into the dress of the golden witch.

 “I am very sorry for the intrusion, but these travelers have sought refuge to wait out the storm for tonight, so they will join us this night,” Ronove explained matter-of-factly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> “Ah, no problem with that, the more the merrier!” the red-headed boy declared with a grin. “Though it seems to be a very... illustrious group to be sure...”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> He side-eyed Elizabeth. Before it got any worse, Mashu once again introduced everyone and their reason for staying while the Butler headed for the kitchen.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> “Ah, I see, so you guys are adventuring to save the world. Pretty impressive,” The boy with the glasses gave a wink and the girl joined in happily.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> “And what brought you to this remote mansion?” Mashu asked, seating herself along the table aside her Master.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> It was the one in the white suit who spoke first.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> “Ah, we are cousins of the Ushiromiya family. We were stuck in that boring family meeting when the witch suddenly invited us to join this game with Maria here,” he pointed to the little girl next to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Uuuu ~! Beatrice is such a powerful witch, she can even make boring farming fun by bringing it alive!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Seriously, are you guys even trying to be in-character?” The girl asked, before turning back towards the new arrivers. “Forgive their nonsense. But it is correct that we are cousins and that the witch invited us to stay over. I’m Jessica, the big oaf is Battler, the little one is Maria and George is the reliable one supposed to babysitting us!”

<p class="MsoNormal">The one with the glasses seemed to take mild offence at that: “Hey, I’m just as much trying to have fun as you guys. But if someone has to look like an adult in contrast, I’m not going to complain.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Mashu seemed unsure what to make of them. Amidst this strange singularity, this seemed to only consist of regular humans.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So what exactly is it that this witch wants from you?” she asked warily.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was Battler who leaned forward with a knowing smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Can’t you see it? Ihihihi! A group of strangers seeking refuge in a spooky mansion that is inhabited by a witch? Isn’t that the beginning of many a good mystery story?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Now that you mention it...”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Though I have to admit, this group of strangers isn’t quite one that would fit into a detective novel...,” Jessica muttered, turning to Maria. “Are you sure that aunt Rosa is fine with you playing such a game?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Uuuu ~! It’s fine, Mama doesn’t really care what I do anyway.”

<p class="MsoNormal">A few unsure glances were exchanged between the cousins.

<p class="MsoNormal">“In any case, you guys are on a mission to save the world, aren’t you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes we are. We are Heroic Spirits of the Chaldea Organization. Sempai here is the one we are bound to.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sempai?” he looked Ritsuka over. “You don’t look much older than her. What exactly makes you her Sempai?” <p class="MsoNormal"> “And the talkative sort aren’t you either,” he chuckled.
 * I don’t know.
 * I don’t know.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “He can’t help it, Uuuu ~. They never bothered to flesh him out. Not even with the movie...”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I see...”

<p class="MsoNormal">Mashu was frowning, but kept her thoughts to herself.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So... Battler, isn’t it? You wanted to say that we should be on our guard against the witch earlier, didn’t you?” she asked instead.

<p class="MsoNormal">He seemed startled, gesturing helplessly with his arms.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ahaha, don’t get me wrong! It’s not that I expect something bad to happen. It’s just that the setting would be near perfect, wouldn’t it? It’s not as if something as ridiculous as a witch would actually live here.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What do you mean? Isn’t that the title of the owner of this mansion?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes it is!” Maria was proclaiming loudly, but seemed overruled by her cousins.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What Battler means, is that nobody has seen this Beatrice in ages. It is rumored that maybe she doesn’t even exist...”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Uuuu ~... she does exist, she’s playing with us right now, doesn’t she? Uuuu ~...”

<p class="MsoNormal">“But Ronove... he has to serve someone, he is an Ars Goetia Demon after all...,” Mashu was confused about their ideas.

<p class="MsoNormal">Battler himself was laughing it off:

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ronove? That goofy guy a demon? Come on, he was just messing with you.”

<p class="MsoNormal">It should have been easy to dissuade him just by asking Dr. Roman, but for some reason the connection to him broke off the moment they had entered the mansion. Likely a result of the magical storm raging outside.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So you came in the expectation that the witch was just a myth?” Nitocris was the one asking the obvious.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Exactly. We are eager to disprove any supernatural occurrences happening this night,” Battler announced.

<p class="MsoNormal">“How can you say that when we, the guests, are supernatural ourselves?”, Mashu’s frown grew heavier with each second.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Easily enough: Magic seems reasonable in your world when you are out there beating up the bad guys. But in here... that would make a bad mystery story, wouldn’t it?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Uuuu ~... but Beatrice exists...,” Maria’s unhappy remark remained mostly ignored.

<p class="MsoNormal">Mashu’s frown wavered. She thought about his words and in spite of her better knowledge, it made some amount of sense when looked at under these circumstances.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You are right. This really looks more like the setting of one of Holmes’ adventures...” <p class="MsoNormal">Mashu gave an embarrassed nod.
 * Wait, aren’t you a big Holmes fan, Mashu?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Reading Doyle’s novels is indeed one of my hobbies.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ah, cool, cool!” Battler’s grin widened. “Though maybe Christie would be more fitting here... In the end, we want to have a story that is fair to the reader, not one that embellishes the cunning of the detective by hiding evidence and knowledge. Readers don’t like stumbling through the dark after all.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh dear, there we go. Two mystery otakus meet who will annoy us through the whole dinner with their book talk...,” Elizabeth groaned.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Doesn’t matter as long as there is food!” an impatient Ibaraki countered.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fouuuu!”, the small beast agreed happily.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Food was indeed served shortly afterwards. The talk continued throughout, so even though the praises for Ronove’s splendid cooking took over the narrative, there was still some bonding between Battler and Mashu in regards to both their reading interests and their parental ire in regards to the stupid names applied to them. Even if Mashu’s case seemed a bit more sinister than Battler’s father’s lacking English. Interestingly enough, the witch never showed herself during the entire dinner, leaving the seat set for her empty. Not that anyone in the merry group bothered too much about it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Jessica and Elizabeth somehow got to the topic of music and suddenly a new rivalry was born, one that turned to outright hostility when Jessica suddenly fetched her guitar.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">“Whoa, whoa, I never knew you play guitar!” Battler exclaimed. “What else have I missed in these six years?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">“A lot, I guess,” was the grinning Jessica’s reply. “It is kinda depressing that I had to practice out here in the guest house without my mom knowing, but at least this means it is nearby today. With our parents holed up in the main building, I guess there is nothing wrong with showing off a little.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">“Say who’s breaking character now, ihihihi!” Battler cackled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">“Uuuu ~! A song! Jessica is singing us a song!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">“Okay, fine with me,” Elizabeth hissed. “Bring it on, blondie!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">And with that the sound of a rather upbeat pop number echoed through the halls of the mansion, reaching out as far as to the portrait of the witch. The initial expectation of something dreadful to occur seemed swept away, but the witch would not forget the challenge spoken out to her... The witch would not forget... and there would be no escape until the storm passes...

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">to be continued....