16

"Are you sure that the Mathers domain is along this road?" Leo asked as they continued to ride along the road ahead of them, getting tired of how long he had spent riding on the ground dragon.

"Yeah! We've entered the wooded area so it isn't much further!" Cecily cheerily replied, shouting slightly to make sure her voice wasn't carried away by the wind. "Look, isn't that the village?" She then said, pointing ahead of them as the trees began to part, allowing them to spy on the distant sight of Arlam Village.

It didn't take long for the gap to close as they arrived at the entrance of the village, making sure to slow down as they did but despite expecting needing to navigate through all the villagers they found themselves staring down an empty village instead.

"Where is everyone? I thought they all would have returned by now…" Leo thought aloud in confusion as they came to a stop in the village center, looking around in an attempt to spot even a single other person. "I mean… I guess this is better for us but…"

"The villagers should have long returned to the village, I feel that something has likely gone wrong for the village to be in a state of such vacantness," Kou mentioned. "Perhaps we should move on to see if the half-elf has suffered any misfortune,"

"Yeah, I dunno how I feel about being here right now…" Leo said, taking the reins of the ground dragon, steadily leading it up the path towards the Mathers Manor. "It's not like it looked like it was attacked, did it?" He asked his spirits, now feeling off put by the silence that filled the air.

"I just hope that Emilia and Puck are ok…" Cecily worriedly replied.

" There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the buildings so Maybe things are alright, I mean E metin didn't head back at the same time as the people. But we should just hurry to see for ourselves…" Lee replied.

The manor was only a brig walk away from the village, a distance that became trivial via ground dragon.

" Anyone home?" Leo called out, banging on the double doors of the manor after having tied up the ground dragon they rode. " Hello?" Leo asked, worry beginning to enter his voice as he continued to knock on the door before making up his mind to grasp to door handles and enter himself.

To their pleasant surprise, the door easily opened for Cecily and Leo revealing the regal yet empty interior of the manor, not at all unlike how it appeared when he had first visited if they factored out he missing greetings from the staff. Despite quietly entering, their footsteps still felt like they rang out as they walked into the middle of the room while looking around.

"Hello!" Cecily called out, her voice easily filling the halls of the Manor. "Is anyone home? Where is everyone?"

" We are right here miss, apologies for taking so long to come and greet you. We weren't expecting any visitors." A voice called out to them from the corridor to their left as two figures stepped out, making themselves known. Neither of the two anyone in the group had met before.

The first of the two was a tall woman with long blond hair wearing the same maid's attire that Rem and Ram wore. Unlike the initial appearance of the two twin maids, the tall woman had a particularly friendly and warm smile as she greeted them in slight contrast to the more serious and focused look of the young girl in the same uniform yet at a far smaller size, the child maid only had short, light brown hair with a red ribbon hair band atop her head.

"I am Fredrica, one of the Mather Manor's maids, and this is Petra, my apprentice. May we ask for what brings you to our lord's residence?" The blond maid continued with a curt bow that Petra quickly copied.

" Hi, my name is Leo and I was hoping to talk to Emilia quickly. Something really important has come up. We're already friends and your lord and some of your coworkers also know me as well if you're concerned over who I am. " Leo quickly answered the maids.

"Apologies but Lady Emilia currently isn't here." Frederica answered, "Certain matters have arisen and as a result, nearly all members of the Emilia camp are currently east of here in a place known as Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary? Why is she someplace like that? You guys didn't get attacked, did you?!" Cecily worriedly asked.

" Lord Roswaal has currently Sustained wounds forcing his house arrest in a safehouse there whilst the villagers of Arlam Village are also currently residing there for their safety during these times as well," Frederica explained.

"But what is the cause of that? Isn't it a pretty big ordeal if something managed to do that to Roswaal?" Leo pointed out.

"Unfortunately, that is not something that we may discuss with you. If you wish to learn about the situation then I advise you to travel to the Sanctuary and learn things firsthand. You shouldn't need to worry if you have a ground dragon for travel. It's further than the village but a much shorter journey than you could have experienced getting here."

"Right… thanks for the directions and for using your time."

"We are glad to be of assistance, Mr Leo," Frederica said, taking another bow that Leo smiled back in turn.

"Goodbye, and thank you!" Cecily cheered, waving as they turned around to hastily leave.

"It seems things have finally settled down at long last…" Wilhelm said as everyone settled down again in the living room, the knights finally having given up their search, accepting that their target was no longer to be found there.

"Tch, what pricks! Was there anywhere they didn't look ?!" Felt complained in a huff.

" I apologize for how the knights have violated your privacy, Lady Felt. " Reinhard said with a solemn bow towards his Lady.

"It's not that I'm so bothered by, it's the stupid knights yet again tramping over other people's lives!"

" My apologies, Lady Felt, but in defense of the knights on this occasion, this residence is owned by Heinkel, and in the urgency of hunting a threat as major as a warlock such actions would be necessary to prevent such a danger so easily remaining safe from our efforts to protect ourselves. " Wilhelm interjected,

"Hey! Who's side are you on here?!" Felt snapped back before leaning into her seat. " I get that much, I'm not stupid, I just don't like any of this!"

"Unfortunately there is likely nothing we can do anymore, Lady Felt," Carol interjected as she sat comforting her gloomy grandchildren who were yet to show any sign of cheering up,

" Aside from his own potential effort, the thoughts of the Kingdom are now set," Grim said.

"But what do the opinions of the people matter? The Nobles never cared for that before " Felt said.

" Lady Felt?"

" When I'm king, I'll declare him innocent! And everyone will have to accept it!"

The blond's sudden declaration was enough to briefly shock the room as they merely watched her, "And until then we can keep giving him support so long as no one finds out! Secretly communicating with someone is nothing after living in the slums for long enough!"

" What you suggest is nothing small and without risk, Lady Felt. However, as your knight and friend to Leo, I shall do my best to assist you for his justice!" Reinhard said with a small.

" Felt is right. Leo did nothing wrong! We want to see him again… " Grassis added on. being the first words the sulking twins had said in a long while.

"I believe that this is a conversation I should not be privy to, however, should there be something I can do please let me know. " Wilhelm added on." If there was one thing that I might suggest however is obtaining and sharing a pair of conversation mirrors. After getting in contact once it should make any further talks easier for you. "

"What are those? Some kind of metia? " Felt asked.

"Yes, Lady Felt, the guardhouse already makes use of them but it is possible to obtain smaller, portable versions as well. To my knowledge such metia's are rather expensive to mass produce yet despite that are somewhat commonplace now for those who make orders to have a pair made." Reinhard explained.

"Then as soon as things cool down, have some made! When we have some we can begin to work out some way of meeting Big Bro again! Reinhard, you need to start regaining the trust of the knights again so we can keep ahead of them!"

"Yes, Lady Felt. Once you feel that the time is right please ask me for the Conversation Mirrors to be ordered. But on the matter of regaining the knight's trust do you already have any proposals on how to accomplish that?" Reinhard asked his lady.

"We can't do it too abruptly but you just start agreeing with them or something, don't you have a divine blessing for this like you do for everything?"

"Lies and deception are not something I have practiced much before, would this not concern Leo should he somehow hear of this before we meet with him?"

"How can he?" Felt countered, "I don't like it much either but we're gonna get left out of their operations? And even if he does hear things then hopefully he's capable of realising We're just faking it to be able to act better."

"You seem to already have plans, I believe that I should take my leave now. I thank you for your hospitality, Lady Felt." Wilhelm said before giving a formal bow.

"Ah, right, well thanks for helping out then Gramps," Felt replied in an almost brisk manner, clearly wishing to get over with formalities.

It was enough for the old butler to stiffly nod before brightly sharing a glance with Reinhard, only to look slightly downwards with a serious expression as he left the room.

"Aren't you going to go and say something to him before he's gone?"

"Lady Felt?" Reinhard questioned his frustrated lady.

"It's obvious the two of you wanted to say something! now go and say it before he's gone! That's an order!"

The abrupt demand of his Lady instantly threw the knight into a rare troubled state that was the closest anyone in the room had seen the Sword saint to getting flustered, Yet before the knight could try to Speak, Felt had gotten their first. "You're finally getting worked up!" Felt said with a smirk, "But I don't wanna hear it, go after him now!"

"Yes lady Felt," Reinhard replied, not willing to argue against his Lady. She had spoken, so of course as her knight, he was to obey.

If there was any reluctance or hesitance, it wasn't shown through Reinhard's actions as he promptly carried out his orders leaving Felt with her elderly attendants and their grandchildren. "I believe you are the only one who could ever trigger such a reaction from the young master Lady Felt. " Carol said with a hint of amusement. "But I thank you deeply for this, we have not enjoyed seeing the Astra family so strained all this time. I hope this is at least a start for things to change."

" Eh, it was just painful seeing them acting like that, besides, wasn't it Big Bro who should be getting some of the thanks?"

" Yes, I suppose so, We will have to remember to thank him in person once we get the chance again," Carol replied as Grimm gently nodded in agreement beside her…

"Grandfather," Reinhard called out after hurrying his way to the manor's front doors at a quickened pace despite the inexplicable heaviness of his feet he had never felt before. It was something he didn't understand but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Reinhard?" Wilhelm replied, slowly turning around in confusion at the voice of his grandson.

Yet despite the two having addressed one another they suddenly fell silent as all words escaped them. What felt like minutes passed by for the two men, neither knowing what to say to the other until at last One managed to bring himself to Speak.

"Thank you, grandfather." Reinhard managed to say. " Thank you for trying to give Lady Felt and Leo a forewarning about the situation. And I thank you deeply for aiding with his escape."

" You're welcome, Reinhard. With the fall of the whale that might not have been possible without his and Subaru's help. I'm glad that I Can begin to repay that debt." Wilhelm replied before going quiet for a few moments as he made up his mind. Taking a moment to swallow down the forming lump in his throat as he finally started to form the words he wanted to say, what he needed to say. "Reinhard, I'm sorry."

"Pardon?" Reinhard instantly replied in confusion at what he was hearing. " I'm sorry grandfather but what are you apologizing about?"

"For how I've treated you all these years… Only after finally felling the whale have I realized how I've been all these years, of all the mistreatment I've given you over something you were innocent of…"

"But, grandfather-" Reinhard attempted to interject.

"No, Reinhard. I blamed you for something you had no part in… I blindly took out my feelings on you… and I tore apart our family in the process."

"But if I hadn't taken the blessing of the Sword Saint then Grandmother would have had the strength to fight back!" Reinhard tried to argue.

"Reinhard… did you mean to obtain the blessing?"

" I…" Reinhard hesitated. " But, still I!"

"Reinhard, after beating the white whale I spoke with Leo and he pointed out another of my mistakes after all this time. Something I've failed to even remotely consider the possibility in my grief. That you never stole her blessing, the reason you may have gained it that day was because that was the point in which she had already died… she perished before She even lost her blessing… and I still blamed you, called you a monster for it…"

For once, the sword saint was rendered truly speechless, completely clueless on how to respond as he felt torn at the news. Only two emotions prevailed above all the others. Relief and guilt.

He couldn't help but be glad of being potentially alleviated of his sin, but it also filled him with guilt at how a monster like him was glad over escaping whatever due punishments his grandfather should have been dealing out one of his days.

"You're not a monster," Wilhelm said, sensing his grandson's thoughts from the expression on his face, shocking Reinhard again. "Theresia, she always thought of you… as her little 'sword angel'. And I could see her shame in how I've treated you… how I scorned you…" Wilhelm continued, his voice beginning to break up as he tried to fight down his tears.

Reinhard couldn't believe what he was hearing, Much less seeing. His grandfather, the man who for so many years saw him as nothing more than a monster and avoided him for so long was now brought to tears, apologizing to him.

"You have every right to be disgusted with me, to despise me. And I will accept that. But if there is any chance… could I so selfishly ask for a chance to redeem myself Somehow, someday? And that I might continue to call you my grandson?"

"Grandfather, I don't hold anything against you! I took her blessing, I weakened her! Or I could have done something! " Reinhard desperately replied as he tried to figure out where he had gone wrong.

" Reinhard, no… You were just a boy then, there was nothing you could have done, much less been expected to do regardless of whatever feats you had already performed at that age ." Wilhelm said as he slowly approached his grandson, Steadily bringing him into an awkward hug. "You never did anything wrong. I should have never depicted you in such a light even despite my grief."

"Theresia would be proud of the man you've become. And so am I. Please don't blame yourself any longer…" Willdm said, now unable to hold back his tears any longer as his words caused Reinhard's own to come spilling forth. "I'm so sorry …" Wilhelm said as the two men remained clenching one another, something akin to hope sparking for their relationship once again…

"Is this the place?" Leo asked as ruins came into view, the dirt path now steadily becoming Stone instead. " Thinking about it, we never really questioned what it was supposed to look like…"

"It's a safe place, right? Maybe they have barriers and protection, right? Or be super hidden?" Cecily wondered.

"Those ruins are likely worth investigating at least, if we are lucky then there may be a chance that it is related to the place we seek," Kou said.

Coming to a stop just before the stairs of the ruins the group once again clambered off of the ground dragon they rode upon, taking the time to secure their mount before pressing towards. "This place isn't particularly dangerous, right?" Leo asked, taking a quick moment to reexamine the large ruins they were about to enter for any hint of what it was made for or who by. "Cecily, do you know anything that ruins might exist for? You've lived for hundreds of years right?"

" I mostly spent time with my contractors until I became a Great Spirit. I know of some civilisations and monuments but this doesn't look like any of them." Cecily replied, nothing coming to mind no matter how many times she inspected the structure.

"It appears to be a tomb, yet one of this size would be dedicated to an individual of significant importance. It also appears to have aged considerably, I would be surprised to hear it was any less than several centuries old assuming it used to receive care from its impressiveness." Kou added on.

"If that's the case then this should be fine, right? But then what kind of person would have been buried here like this? You would think it would have been closer to city ruins or something?" Leo wondered aloud as he began to take his first steps into the stone structure as Cecily quickly took hold of his hand as she went with him.

Despite there being no torches in the corridor, the light barely dimmed as they continued to cautiously wander on through, instead going illuminated by patches of Moss growing Over the walls of the ruins. It wasn't long before they reached the end of the Corridor was a lone wooden door.

"Is this all?" Leo questioned as they reached it, "There weren't even any inscriptions, markings or just… anything. The door doesn't even look that special."

" Maybe they ran out of money? I've never actually been in something like this so what should it look like?" Cecily pondered.

"I don't actually know either… I just thought an ordinary door was a little too plain for an otherwise impressive stone monument like this,"

" But it isn't supposed to be a temple, is it? But maybe there's something more inside. Something has to be here!" Cecily proclaimed before grabbing hold of the iron ring that was the door's handle to push it open.

Yet contrary to both of their expectations, the room was even more of a letdown than all that came before it as all that they saw was an empty bland room. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be! Why was this place even made?" She pondered, "Hey Master! Master?" She asked but Leo didn't respond.

As she looked up at him, his eyes were dazed as he looked on at nothingness as his grip on her hand began to loosen. Before she could question anything She heard the door slam close behind them before Leo dropped to the ground, his consciousness having left him…

"Where… Where am I?" Leo asked light that filled his vision began to die down, revealing himself to be standing in the middle of a flowery field. "Was that place made to teleport people here? Wait…Cecily? Cecily?! Kou?"

"You will find that calling out for your spirits is a waste of time." A voice spoke from behind, prompting him to Spin around to find a lone woman dressed in black, sitting down at a table with a parasol atop a little hill. " For your information, you haven't been teleported anywhere either. The place in which we currently reside isn't the real world but closer to a spiritual world, your body is still in My tomb with your spirits but your soul has been brought here, to my castle of dreams, Would you care to join me for a cup of tea?"

" Ok…" Leo said slowly, trying to process everything the Onix-eyed woman said, "So why did this happen, and can my spirits join? I'm fairly sure that Cecily is panicking right now… And who are you? You made it sound like you know me somehow…"

"You came here because you met the qualifications to attend the witches' tea party and I invited you in, unlike your spirits whom I imagine will be feeling quite a bit of discomfort for remaining in that room now. But for now, join me." She said, gesturing to the seat across from her.

"What do you mean discomfort? And are you saying you're a witch?!"

"My title would be the Witch of Greed, but you can call me by my name Echidna." The witch answered with a smile despite the tense look on Leo's face. "You don't have to look at me that way you know?"

"You just introduced yourself as a witch, how could you expect anything else?"

"You bring up the same point as Subaru did when we first met, although I guess that meeting technically didn't happen now. I wonder how many times we may have spoken already? Unfortunately, unlike with Subaru, we'll never know."

"You've met Subaru?"

"Are you just going to stand around forever? There is a seat and your tea is going cold." Echidna said, causing Leo to sigh as he cautiously approached her, taking the spare chair across from her.

"I'll opt to not drink this time, but can you answer the question please?" Leo said as he finally settled down, staring back at Echidna who had the same gentle smile after taking a sip of her tea.

"Don't you think it's a little rude to refuse a drink prepared for you? Unlike Subaru you are much more cautious, aren't you? Of course, I've met Subaru just as we have and several times as well. It was thanks to him I began to learn about you, and since then I thought that you were one that I would also like to meet."

"Why?"

"Because you're another authority holder partially, the next generation after us witches you could say. Yet you're not like those Archbishops of the cult either. I admit it Would be hard to stand meeting that bunch. The point is especially driven by how the public is calling you a warlock, although I suppose that was only started by the man who ruined your life to make it occur all the quicker than just an Archbishop. However, I find that calling you a warlock is distasteful, at least how you currently are." Echidna explained with such casualness that it managed to leave Leo bewildered.

"And how do you know about all that? Subaru doesn't know about it and I've said nothing." Leo pointed out.

"I'll have you know that I once made a book containing all the knowledge of the world from its memories even being capable of predicting the future with great accuracy. Knowing that much is simple."

"You can read my memories then…" Leo said with a sinking sense of dread for who he was facing down.

"If you were to talk to anyone who has undertaken the trials it would be made clear, of which you are looking for that repulsive half-elf."

"Emilia, yes. Have you met her as well then?"

"Unfortunately I will be meeting her, but I personally knew her mother. But you don't need to be in a rush, the chance to talk with me like this doesn't come easily and I'm afraid that there might be some others who would refuse to let you go without meeting you at least once. Besides, perhaps there are questions that I'm perfectly capable of answering. I'll have you know that as the Witch of Greed, there have been many who have sought me for my knowledge and wisdom, don't you wish to request it as well?"

"How do I know you'll tell the truth?" Leo asked yet the witch remained unbothered.

"That is natural to worry about, but you were going to talk to the half-elf you trust. Why not just confirm with her if there are any answers that she can provide, assuming She doesn't get them wrong that is."

"Alright then, " Leo said as he leaned in, to the subtle surprise of Echidna. "There is a seal in Elior Forest. Is what's inside of it capable of killing the witch of Envy?"

"That's not a question I know the answer to, although I don't like to say that coming across anything capable of killing her is highly unlikely as to my knowledge there is nothing in this world capable of striking her down. The only one who could stand up to her is the current sword saint and even he couldn't hope to perform a killing blow." Echidna answered. "There are speculations that I could make about what may still lie within the seal if there is anything left in it at all."

"What's that supposed to mean? It was opened before?"

"It was, and it could be thought that its opening could be thought of as the cause that the world was nearly destroyed. It isn't a surprise that upon closing the seal again the elves of the forest made sure that it was never opened again. I wasn't born when the seal was opened and I haven't found out whatever emerged from the seal so I can't answer whatever came out the last time it was opened either."

"If you're one of the witches then you're over 400 years old, right? And the seal is even older than that? Does anyone have a clue what's inside it anymore then?" Leo asked in bewilderment but Echidna merely shook her head. 'Then how would Pandora know that what's inside of it would lead to the defeat of the Witch of Envy? How could she know it contains whatever it is that she wants?' he thought to himself in confusion as the witch merely watched him.

"If there is anyone who would know then it would be the elves however you'll find that every elf has been turned into an ice sculpture so you won't be able to ask them either. But what is your reason for wishing to learn so much about that seal anyway? No sane person would try to have anything to do with the Witch of Envy, plenty of people are content with her seal, and fighting against her would only lead to your demise."

"I thought you could read memories?" Leo pointed out.

"Did I say that I could read your memories? I only remember talking about a special book that I made." Echidna replied with a sly smile before she quickly softened up, acting much more like a maiden as she put on a bashful act that Leo was unable to work out how true it was. "I'm a dead witch, I'm not going anywhere you know?

There were a few moments of silence before Leo made up his mind. "I was told that eventually the Witch of Envy would break free from her seal and when that time came there would be nothing capable of stopping her. They spoke of the seal saying that it contained what was needed to kill her, and my only reason for going along with it was to avoid ending up being an immortal ragdoll that gets tortured until I lose my sanity…"

"From that perspective, your actions make plenty of sense, and whilst it's completely true that Envy can break free from her seal, I don't think you should have to worry about her to that extent unless you for some reason incurred her wrath or envy. It would be a much more reasonable request to simply keep running and avoiding her if that day comes. I already have my suspicions about who would happen to be the one telling you about all this but to be certain would you mind telling me who put that in your head?" Echidna said as she gradually adopted a sour expression whilst reaching for her tea to take yet another sip.

"Well… she was a petite woman who wore nothing but a poncho and had blue ribbons-" Leo started to explain until he was interrupted by Echidna putting down her teacup in a rather harsh manner, still looking just as disgruntled.

"Pandora." Echidna said immediately, "You've been meeting with the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora."

"Witch? She's a witch?" Leo repeated in disbelief, "You've got to be lying, she hasn't acted like that before. I know that I don't really know her and I don't fully trust her, but she has been the one to save my life and help me out…"

"She's not lying," Another voice suddenly spoke out, making Leo look to the left in shock to find that a blond woman with her hair tied into a messy ponytail had suddenly appeared from nowhere with a stern expression. "Pandora likely doesn't care about you at all aside from whatever she is planning, and she's leading you on so you keep playing out whatever role she wants you to play."

"Who are you?" Leo asked as he remained fixed on her, trying to figure out how he had failed to notice her."

"I'm Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, but you don't need to know my name!" She declared, leaving Leo puzzled over how to treat the new arrival.

"Huh, Pandora is still getting up to bad things?" A childish voice said, making Leo look around again as a little girl with a translucent dress and short messy green hair that a blue flower crown sat atop was now standing beside him with an upset look. "Hey, she's not messing with you, is she? Oh, and I'm the Witch of Pride, Typhon!"

"U-um… you… you mustn't be taken away with Pandora… she… she doesn't care for other people…" Another, nearly whimpering voice said as Leo nearly found himself exasperated by all the sudden arrivals. This time a short woman who was well wrapped up in her clothes and scarf yet for a witch she had a rather cute appearance as she struggled to maintain eye contact with Leo.

"Oh, is everyone gathering together again already? I didn't think that we'd be meeting together again so soon!" One final voice spoke out, however, unlike the others her appearance was heard well before she was finished arriving as heavy clunking of whatever contraption carried the small chained woman continued to run up.

"And hopefully the full reunion won't happen, not that she has any reasons to intrude so horribly yet again this time," Echidna replied, still looking as upset as before whilst Leo remained wary and dazed of all the sudden new arrivals, especially of the one girl that unlike all the rest was currently heavily constrained to her mobile coffin.

"You shouldn't be so hard… it's not like she is… like Pandora…" a rather large purple-haired woman said, having constantly sighed throughout her sentence as she lay on the ground with a tired expression, yet it made her impression pale in comparison to the chained witch that she barely got his attention. "I'm Sehkmet… the witch of sloth… if you're wondering…"

"Is something wrong Leo?" Typhon asked with a tilt of her head, now leaning against the table and up at Leo who was still mostly focused on the walking coffin. "Oh, they're called Carmilla and Daphne! They're the witches of lust and gluttony!" she cheerily pointed out as she took her guess as to what his issue was.

"Thanks… but why did you all suddenly appear? Is this because Pandora was mentioned? Do you all have issues with her?" Leo managed to ask all the witches as he stood up from his seat, not knowing where to look considering he was now surrounded by the six.

"It's more than that! Pandora is a cruel and manipulative person! You can't keep being taken away by her just because she saved you a few times! Don't you realize that she's playing you for whatever she is plotting?!" Minerva yelled out with a pointed finger before quickly starting to stamp on the ground with enough force that it shook the area, making a small crater beneath her.

"Don't you think it's a little hard for me to just believe that? All I know about you is your identity as witches, while I don't know much more about Pandora she hasn't done anything against me. If anything I owe her plenty." Leo replied.

"That's just what she wants you to think, she's just manipulating you and preparing you for something. You'll likely get similar treatment to Geuse at this rate, although unlike you he knew from the beginning that she was bad news yet he still fell victim to her and ended up under her." Echidna interjected.

"It was a shame what happened to Geuse… he was a very respectable person before…" Sehkmet said between exhausted sighs, her words managing to catch Leo's attention.

"Geuse? Who were they? What did Pandora do to him?"

"H-he was… a v-v-very kind p-person…" Carmilla stuttered as she tried hiding herself in her scarf as she spoke. "He h-helped a lot of people… including us b-but p-p-plenty of other people as well."

"Yeah, he founded a whole community of people just to help others, he was a really good person! But then Pandora came and ruined everything, she ruined Geuse and took over the organization." Typhon explained.

"But how did she do it? Ruin him I mean?"

"She backed him into a corner that he felt there was no way out of, so he chose to forcefully take in a witch factor that he wasn't compatible with, the end result is that it broke him as a person and Pandora took advantage of that to gain another pawn," Echidna answered.

"She gave me my witch factor… are you saying that she's trying to give me the same fate? I'm just going to break down someday? Because I'm feeling perfectly fine…" Leo said, not convinced by their story.

"No, you should be fine. Unlike Geuse, you're compatible with your witch factor so you won't break down so horribly like he did. That's not to say that it won't have any effect on you, however, it can depend on the person but at the very least you shouldn't be warped into being someone or something else entirely."

"Hey, Leo!" Typhon then said, managing to snap Leo and the witches out of their conversation as everyone wondered what the little witch wanted with their guest. The little girl didn't say anything more than hold her hand out with a cheeky smile to the faint bewilderment of Leo whilst all the other witches watched with varying reactions.

"Wait, don't do it, Leo!" Minerva was the first to desperately shout as she began to dash forward but it was already too late as Leo had hesitantly took her hand.

"Why? Is there something, ah?" Leo began to question until he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder causing him to reach towards it. "What did you… do…" Leo said as realization set in as he noticed that Typhon was now holding onto his whole arm which was now cleanly removed from his body without even a spec of blood and a bewildering small amount of pain.

"Typhon!" Minerva yelled in infuriation but the girl didn't care.

"Did that sting a bit? You've done some bad things but you're probably not that bad of a person, you at least don't seem to feel guilty of anything." Typhon observed as she calmly looked up at extremely troubled Leo who seemed frozen to the spot, his remaining arm still holding onto the string shoulder of his missing one

"You took… my arm… you took my arm?! Just like that?! What the hell?!" Leo began to exclaim as he took a few steps back in shock but before he could put any real distance between him and the Witch of Pride, he found himself being struck in the back before a flurry of blows followed, yet none of them brought any pain, instead soothing Leo as he felt the stinging pain fade and a sense of feeling return to him. "And… it's back already?! Who?!" Leo exclaimed, now realizing he already had regained his missing limb, turning around to see an upset Minerva in his face.

"You shouldn't have taken Typhon's hand so easily! You should be thankful that so long as I am here, I won't condone the sight of injuries, wounds or anything!" Minerva practically shouted at him before looking past him and furiously pointing at Typhon. "And Typhon, you shouldn't be judging people like that all the time, all you're doing is causing pain to the good and bad people, some people end up in agony because of you!"

"I only do it because they're bad people! They need to be judged or else the world will be full of people like that!" Typhon argued back in a pout, "Leo is fine now because of you, it doesn't matter anymore!"

"That doesn't matter!"

"That's enough… the two of you…" Sehkmet interrupted, barely raising her voice as the two witches found themselves being shoved back by an invisible force.

"Are those your authorities? They have to be." Leo asked, letting the question on his mind come out.

"Yes… I didn't care to name it but… Subaru called mine the Unseen Hands… seemed fitting enough…" Sehkmet answered with another sigh. "But shouldn't we be returning… to the topic of Pandora…"

"And how you're trying to convince me she's a monster that even you other witches hate?"

"You should just listen to us at this point, that story about Geuse? Upon her first trial, Emilia will know it well, in fact, it's personal to her. She'll likely explain far better than us how much of a monster Pandora really is, you need to wake up and realize she's just trying to use you. You shouldn't have anything to do with her!" Minerva snapped.

"And how do you propose that? What's stopping her from dragging me to whatever her current location is? I'm better off trying to just take her by surprise and killing her." Leo replied.

"As much as you would be doing me a favor, even you wouldn't be able to pull that off, she'd just undo it as if it had never happened." Echidna replied, "Besides, her authority only works on things within a range, if you're far enough away from her and she can't find you then she can't affect you."

"You mean she's just immortal as well?" Leo questioned.

"As well? You don't die when you're killed either? Tella is like that as well!" Typhon cheerily announced, "See Nerva, there was no need to worry with Leo!"

"That's not the point Typhon!" Wrath said as she stopped the ground a few more times in frustration.

"There is one way that Pandora might be able to be slain however, not that I'm able to know it until it's attempted." Echidna then said, quickly gaining everyone's shocked looks whilst she remained in thought. "You walked into my tomb with the sword of life, didn't you? The sword when infused with enough mana is capable of cutting through people's very souls, I wouldn't count on it but there is a slim chance that even Pandora couldn't survive it. It depends if her soul would be destroyed before her authority can take effect, taking into account how she fails to come back the instant she dies but instead takes a brief moment before reappearing is all I can use to suggest this hypothesis."

"Frankly I'm just glad to hear that I have a shot at dealing with her in case she really is a problem… is she strong in a fight as well?" Leo asked.

"Na, despite how she acts she's the second weakest of all of us!" Daphne answered, "And she's only considered stronger than Ner Ner because her authority prevents her from harming anything at all!"

"Seriously?"

"Y-yes… Pandora… s-s-she never n-normally fights. She keeps t-t-tricking p-people or u-using other people…" Carmilla answered.

"The only reason why she survived whilst we all died is because of her authority, and the fact she hid herself from history." Minerva said with a huff, "But it's not all like she can't do anything by herself."

"Suddenly things feel a lot easier… aren't I able to deal with her perfectly fine then?" Leo said, finally regaining his confidence since entering the Castle of Dreams at the news.

"She is still a witch… we only said she is the second weakest of us… not that she is weak…" Sehkmet interjected, "If you let down your guard… she'll beat you…"

"But she needs judgment! If you see her again Leo then you need to punish her! She always avoided me before!" Typhon proclaimed.

"That's because I'm sure that even if she could recover from the effects of your authority easily, she would still experience agonizing pain that even she couldn't bear until she undid it." Echidna pointed out with a huff.

"Hey! There's something else I wanna see you try fighting if you're going to consider Pandora! Subaru said you could beat my bunny you know, are you going to try that before you run away wherever." Daphne said as her living coffin stepped forward slightly, allowing it to lean down to place the witch directly face to face with Leo with a small smile that managed to creep Leo out.

"What do you mean your bunny? Beating up on wildlife isn't hard unless it starts running away…"

"Running? The great rabbit doesn't run!" Daphne replied, seemingly ready to burst into laughter at the prospect.

"The great rabbit? You mean one of the three great mabeasts? You made it?! And Subaru put me up to fight another one?!" Leo exclaimed, his voice quickly becoming more and more agitated at the thought, "Why the hell does he keep signing me up to fight monsters all the time?! I'm just something convenient to him but I'm not even that strong yet!"

"Mm? But Subaru answered that immediately, like he was so confident that if you were here you could handle it." Daphne answered as a sly smile made its way onto Echidna's mind, having made up her mind.

"He said that knowing that you couldn't possibly lose to it, he wished that it were easy to get you to deal with the fight for him because then there would be nothing to have to worry about. Even if you were to die then everything else would die instead and you would still be fine, the only issue being making sure that no one else died to you as well."

"He WHAT?!" Leo shouted out in fury, "I mean… dealing with the white whale was one thing, I mean there was a plan and an army, it was shared work… but now he knows that my death kills everything and suddenly I'm all the more a convenient tool for him?! One day I'm a disgusting warlock to him, the next, the tool that fixes all his issues! I'm not sticking my neck out for that crap!"

"Not that I'm standing up for Subaru's way of thinking at that time but Echidna's wording isn't quite right." Minerva huffed despite having a rather conflicted look. "It's disgusting that the thought managed to cross his mind that he thinks anyone's death could be an answer to anything but it wasn't quite as Echidna put it, it was more like he had a brief thought of a possibility than anything he took seriously."

"Yeah, Baru is a really troubled person at times and he's nice for always trying to save people and blames himself a lot, but that part of Baru is really bad! He was a good boy for discarding that idea quickly!" Typhon said, for the first time losing her cheery disposition as she stamped on the ground before pouting, not at all resembling the fury one might have thought of for a witch.

"Who said that he discarded the idea? He could have always tucked the idea away for later until he feels like it's optimal to perform, all it would take is so much as stabbing Leo in the back at the right time." Echidna said, her sly smile only growing slightly as she carefully watched Leo's reaction to the conversation.

"He only had the thought… because of all the pain... He's been through…" Sekhet sighed, "He just wants… an easy way… to get past his constant… struggles... For once… talking is so… exhausting…"

"B-but t-that isn't an excuse i-if you wish to execute i-it and n-n-not telling that person a-

about it…" Carmilla chimed in, "A-although… if he n-never seriously thought a-about doing it…"

"I don't care about any of that Mila Mila. I just wanna see if someone can overcome the kind of world that me and my bunnies live in!" Daphne explained.

"Well if that's all you're wondering about then I can answer it for you quite easily. Knowing how his authority currently functions and even with only a rough idea of how large its area of effect can be I can still confidently answer with certainty that the mindless great rabbit wouldn't stand a chance against him. Perhaps a more intelligent being who knows about his authority could beat him but anything that just simply thinks to kill him will instead become the one who will die. The best your rabbit can achieve is causing him some pain until the inevitable comes and claims all the eternity of the great rabbit in one fell swoop. It would likely take a lucky break for at least one rabbit to survive his authority but it still wouldn't have the intelligence to leave him alone and go back in to attempt to eat him. Eventually Leo would win, even in the best case scenario all that they might gain is some victory against his mental state or else it is pointless to debate about."

The flood of words from the Witch of Greed was enough to merely stun some of the witches or make them roll their eyes at the unnecessary monologue.

"Dona, you shouldn't be thinking about that!" Typhon complained.

"You're not seriously contemplating scenarios about all the different things that Leo could triumph over by dying are you?" Minerva grumbled as the two started accusing Echidna.

"Of course not, if you were listening, such things don't even require much thought. All you have to consider is that in a fight to the death, Leo can't lose. When the conditions of victory are more vague, then you can stand a chance and more details are required to begin to work out the likelihood of whomever's victory. The only exception to this would be if he were to face off against something else that also can't die, then it would likely become a battle to see who breaks first." Echidna replied without batting an eye.

"I-I think t-that you should b-be more considerate of L-Leo whilst h-he's here…" Carmilla pointed out as her gaze drifted over to the young man who was now stunned into silence from his previously bubbling rage, no longer knowing how to feel after Echidna's unnecessarily in-depth analysis of the hypothetical fight.

"I suppose so, but it's important to put in perspective the way that some people could potentially be thinking of him, no?" Echidna said. "Whenever a situation comes to killing something, someone could always think of Leo as an immediate answer."

"People shouldn't be treated like sacrifices just for easy victories!" Minerva shouted out in fury, quickly reaching the limits of her non-existent patience.

"I… think I'm done here…" Leo eventually huffed to himself having reached his limit with witches, "If there's any truth to this… then I'm leaving straight after confirming with Emilia…"

"That is the best thing you can do for your own personal interests if you can't trust us." Echidna agreed, "And it's good that you're willing to go, you can't stay here forever and I'm about done with what interested in with you."

"What do you mean? What have you been doing the whole time?" Leo asked, now back on guard as the witch just smiled.

"Why skimming through your memories, of course, I'm completely free to do that to those who enter my castle of dreams. I haven't seen them all, but I think I've seen enough pertaining to what I was initially curious about."

"I was wondering what you were wanting with me to bring me here…"

"Well, that was something that I wanted, but there were other matters," Echidna admitted as gaping white cracks began to appear in the space all around them. "Talking with others is one of my favorite activities to do, so long as it's good company. But everyone else merely wanted to get involved when you mentioned the witch of vainglory."

"You really shouldn't get involved with her any more than you need to, avoid her at all costs!" Minerva added on as the world continued to whiten.

"Oh, but proving her survival abilities aren't unlimitedly capable would be nice as well." An unknown person said as the world became too white to make anyone out anymore, the world finally faded away.

"Good luck!" A cheery voice shouted out before he could no longer hear anything, the world suddenly turning black…

"Why did you do that?" Minerva then asked, her gaze fixed on where Leo just vanished.

"Are you talking about me?" Echidna asked with an inquisitive glance.

"Yes, you! Why did you have to tag on the bit about Subaru?! What are you aiming for? It wasn't needed at all!" Minerva shouted back as all the other witches waited for an answer.

"Because I thought it would make for a more interesting series of events." Echidna simply answered. "At this point, Subaru might very well keep considering Leo's authority as an easy way out of his problems and one day take it, instead things can't be so easy for him, even if he gains a further problem to overcome. I doubt that he shall become something that will make Subaru struggle in his current loop. Should they cross paths later I wonder how things will go."

"That's it? You just wanted to make them fight?" Minerva exclaimed.

"But did I not warn him of possibilities? Now you can be sure that he won't be betrayed like that."

"I-if that is what y-you wanted then t-that wasn't t-the right w-way to go about it, Echidna…" Carmilla said.

"I suppose so, but I didn't lie."

"But you… worded it differently…" Sehkmet pointed out. "Not that it… matters… it's pointlessly exhausting… to worry about something we can't… affect anymore…"

"Precisely, besides he has much greater worries currently."

"Like the fact that Pandora is after him?" Daphne guessed making the rest go quiet. Whilst only Echidna, Sehkmet and Daphne didn't seem to care as much, bitterness spread across Minerva's and Typhon's faces whilst Carmillia simply looked troubled at the thought.

It didn't matter what their feelings about Leo were, none of them liked the thought of the forbidden witch still getting up to things in the modern era, continuing her same old ways for whatever her current plans were…

"Master?" "Leo?" Cecily and Kou asked, quickly moving closer to their contactor as they finally heard a mumble from him, his body shifting slightly as well whilst his eyes steadily flickered open. "You're awake!" The spirit girl cheered as she quickly hugged him tightly.

"Cecily? How long have I been out for?" Leo asked, steadily sitting up despite the girl clinging to him.

"It has been a little while. Whilst it was concerning to see you suddenly lose your consciousness, it was more concerning when both the Great Spirit and I began to feel great discomfort from being within the room." Kou answered him as Cecily finally pulled back.

"Yeah, I made sure to pull you out of the room as quickly as possible. Spirits can't throw up but I felt like I wanted to the whole time, it was horrible in there… Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I just had a bit of an experience, is all…" Leo said as he finally finished waking up, realizing the third presence that had failed to make itself known yet.

"Oh, that's good to hear. It was really~ worrying and shocking to suddenly find you here like this." A certain silver-haired half-elf said with a relieved sigh. "I think the horrible feeling you experienced was because you weren't qualified for the trial…"

"Emilia?! What are you doing here?" Leo asked in shock as he hurried to his feet.

"I should be asking you that, I didn't think you would be at the Sanctuary! What brought you here?"

"A lot, yet very little at the same time…" Leo mumbled as he tried to think of the best possible answer to give the confused girl, "To keep things short, there's something really urgent we need to talk about, so much has been going on and I don't know how much time I have…"

"I see, but right now is a really bad time… I need to take the trial currently. I really~ sorry but this is really~ important right now because a lot seems to be happening here as well." Emilia said with a troubled look. "Can I promise to talk with you as soon as I finish everything first? I trust that what you have to say is important but…"

"That's fine, I guess, but what trial? There isn't anything like that here." Leo asked, now being his time to be confused.

"The trial of the Sanctuary. It's just in here, you didn't accidentally get involved with it?"

"No… I got involved in something else it seems, maybe it might just be best to leave you to it for now and talk later like we've already agreed? I'll be waiting just outside until you come out again." Leo asked as Emilia nodded in agreement.

"Ok! I don't know how long it will take but hopefully, I won't keep you waiting too long! I'll see you soon." Emilia replied with a determined voice.

"Good luck," Leo said as Cecily cheerily chimed in, to Emilia's joy before the two began to leave her alone, waving her goodbye as they made their exit from the tomb, leaving Emilia on her own to face whatever trial she spoke of.

"Master, didn't you speak of having an experience yourself? Did something happen to you?" Cecily asked as they finally reached the outside once more, night having long set whilst the whole of the tomb now possessed an ethereal glow to it, something that the group could only assume was tied to Emilia's trial.

"I suppose I had a bit of a meeting…" Leo said, once again getting lost in thought upon thinking about the question, the faces of the witches still clear in his mind, along with their rather insistent warnings. "Pandora is really bad news apparently, and Subaru might not be someone that I don't want to affiliate myself with much more… but that all depends on something."

"On something? You seemed like you really wanted to talk with Emilia before… is she a part of it?" Cecily asked as Leo nodded in confirmation.

"Apparently some of the most major things I heard can be confirmed by Emilia, so that's what I want to do," Leo replied.

"So who is the one who told you such things in the first place? And what about Pandora makes her such a sudden concern now compared to before?" Kou asked.

"Because I just spoke with six witches, and apparently they're all against the witch of vainglory, Pandora…" Leo sighed, much to the sudden alarm of his spirits, Cecily looking almost as if she had a heart attack at the news whilst Kou seemed to visibly move as if it had jumped.

"What have you gotten involved with…"

"I wish I knew from the beginning…"