True to Edison Matthews’ word, the nearest farming village, which took them about an hour to walk to, accepted the bundle that the dark-haired man offered, and welcomed them with open arms. Yuriko felt a bit uncomfortable not knowing what he said to the villagers, but with her perception aura up, and her Mien working in the background, she knew that any hostility would be curtailed. At least until they left her influence.

Most of what she projected through her Mien was simply a need to remain cordial, and that there was no reason to fear or get into a fight. Matthews said that the beastkin features were unusual in this part of the…Irvalla Region, so Orrin kept his antennae flat against his hair, and she lent him a beret to hide the antennae roots on his forehead. The beret was a bit loose on him, but he ended up just pulling it lower on his head. As for Rolland, Kassy, and the rest, they wore makeshift headscarves and stuffed their tails down their trousers.

“It’s a bit uncomfortable,” Kassy admitted, “but still bearable. For now.” She added with a grimace.

“The other thing that makes you stand out,” Matthews said as they were walking down the road, “Are your clothes.”

Yuriko stared at his attire, which would not have been out of place in the Empire, and raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Ah, you and the other women.” He chuckled. “Slacks, trousers, jeans, and whatnot are considered men’s clothes, and crossdressing is generally frowned upon in society. Especially here in the Confederate countryside.” He added under his breath, “Same in Karcellia, too, for that matter.”

“There’s not much we can do about that now,” Yuriko pointed out dryly. Her traveller’s gear didn’t include skirts, as who would wear something so bothersome while fighting or exploring a Fysalli?

“Just pointing it out,” Matthews said easily. “It's the first thing I noticed when I saw you. And these villagers would no doubt remember that more than anything else.”

True enough, there were some scandalised looks and whispers coming from the womenfolk in the farming village, but not to the extent that Matthews presented. The village had more women than men, too.

“The conscription, of course. All boys and men between the ages of sixteen and thirty were called up.” Matthews said. “Young lads for the meat grinder.”

After they paid for food, with bundles of paper that the villages inexplicably accepted, they were given an empty house to take shelter in for the evening. It wasn’t that large and certainly was a tight squeeze for the three dozen of them. But nobody wanted to be separated from the others. They were also given some bread and vegetables for dinner, as well as brown bottles of something.

There was even a bathroom! Ah, but the water was brought in from outside. There was a mechanical hand pump there, sticking out of the ground. More convenient than a single village well, she supposed. Sheamus apparently knew how to work one so he set about getting enough water to wash and bathe in. The air was probably nippy, and the water, ice cold, but nothing a little campfire runescript weaving wouldn’t…ah, Ancestors! The ambient Chaos here was nowhere near dense enough to support that kind of usage. Then, that left using firewood. So that was why the villager guide pointed out a stack of cut wood.

Matthews’ landcraft was parked on the cobblestone road. The pilot, a much younger man with shifty eyes, trailed behind the mage. That’s what he called himself, wasn’t it? Yuriko used Chaos Sight briefly, which caused both of them to jump. Unlike the villagers and most of the warriors back then, these two had a bit of Animus inside them. It showed up when they exhaled, and upon inhaling, the little bit of ambient Chaos in the air entered their bodies.

Once dinner had been eaten and the rest of them were feeling a bit more relaxed, Sheamus, Gwendith, Heron, Horace Greenfield, and Seran joined Yuriko as they settled across a table from the two Karcellians.

Not wishing to impose on the man’s hospitality, Yuriko fetched a dozen gold Shekel coins and handed them over. She was more than ready to give more, considering the size of their party, but Matthews’ eyes widened, while the boy’s jaw fell at the sight.

“This is more than enough,” Matthews said, mastering his facial expressions quickly, “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Yuriko returned, “Now, please elaborate on your offer.”

Matthews grinned and said, “Well, let me formally introduce myself. Edison Matthews of Karcellian Intelligence, Magus branch. Which is to say, I was a reserve agent until the war broke out. My offer comes from the government of the Karcellian Commonwealth, which is an island nation about half the size of the Richmond Confederacy, off the coast of the Norrinth Empire. Of which,” he added before Yuriko could ask, “are currently at war with Richmond. We are located in the southern provinces of the Richmond Confederacy, near the border of the Sanctus Kingdom, which starts on the mountains south of here. Sanctus is forever neutral, and so, of no use to you. If you attempt to take shelter there, the Confederacy will use you as an excuse to invade, and you’d probably get thrown out by the Kingdom then. In contrast, Karcellia will not only offer you shelter but will give handsomely for whatever you and your group can give us.”

Yuriko's mastery of Old Imperial had not been as good as her Wojan back then, but inexplicably, the more they spoke, the easier and more fluent she became. It was as if she had always known Old Imperial.

Damien’s memories, no doubt. She sighed audibly, and Matthews paused in concern.

“Is our initial offer so bad?” he asked mildly.

“No, it's nothing. A different matter,” Yuriko assured him. Through her perception, she knew that the others on her side were struggling with the language. From the glazed look on the boy’s face, he didn’t understand what Matthew was saying either.

Gwendith looked like she understood more than the others and when she spoke, it was with some fluency. “You mention a lot of vague words,” she started, “and while you have the advantage of not attacking us upon sight, it seems far too good to be true.”

Yuriko blinked. It was? Gwendith translated for the others, and she mostly got the gist of it correct. The marine scouts didn’t look troubled and said that they would defer to Yuriko’s decisions.

In the meantime, Matthews continued to present his case. Yuriko left Gwendith to negotiate, as frankly, she was much better at it than Yuriko was.

Instead, what she thought about was the fact that the people here called the place Irvalla, and not Siderious. She remembered that the Atrodius back then called this place…or rather, the place beyond the portal as Siderious, so…

“Pardon me,” Yuriko interrupted the conversation.

Matthews stopped in midword and Gwendith nodded.

“Are there…Warforged? I mean, do you know of creatures made out of living metal in this…Irvalla Region?”

“Creatures of living metal?” Matthews’ eyes sparkled. “Why only in stories. No such creature, unless they came through rifts in midair, have appeared in Irvalla. Perhaps in the distant past, before humanity claimed this world. But no, monsters and such are only the stuff of legend and myths. Why do you ask, Miss Davar?”

Yuriko’s mind whirled. No Warforged when before, she saw them marching in and out of the portal. It was impossible then, unless they worked under the ground? But then, with the thinness of ambient Chaos, how would they have functioned? Unless they were bringing Chaos from Rumiga here?

No, the greater possibility was that this was not Siderious and something had gone wrong when they stepped through the portal! But then… what was it that she felt drawn to?

And more importantly, how were they to return home?

“Miss Davar?”

Yuriko sighed heavily. More complications, and now, to find out that they were effectively in a place that they didn’t have to be? Did her instincts betray her? But then…that feeling…

The Threads of Fate, even though she severed her connection to the Empress and Empire, still tugged at other parts of her. And…isn’t Damien also affected by it? And Fri’Avgi too? What a time for him to fall silent!

Damien, wake up! she yelled in her mind, but all she got were sleepy murmurs.

“Yuri.” Gwendith held Yuriko’s shoulder and snapped her out of her downward spiral. “Are you alright?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m…fine.” She shook her head again, “It seems we may not be at Siderious.”

“Are you sure?” Gwendith said with furrowed brows. “Or are you overthinking things? You said you still felt drawn to something right? Well, let the Threads of Fate guide you. Perhaps things will become clearer once we get there, yeah?”

Yuriko nodded and smiled, “You’re right. It seems I’ve been lost in my head.” She cleared her throat and shifted to Old Imperial. “I apologise Mister Matthews, it seems I’ve not given your proposal enough attention. I’ve just realised a few things and it disturbed me. You say the nation you serve, the Karcellian Commonwealth, is, er, where exactly?”

“Oh, due northwest of here. Probably one thousand two hundred or so kilocubits that way.”

“Kilocubits?”

“Ah, a thousand cubits, which is about this long,” He spread his arms out into an approximation of a pace, so it should be close enough. More importantly, that direction was where she was being called to, and she said as much to Gwendith in a low voice. In Verdanian, of course.

“Then it would be in our best interest to ally with them, then?” Gwendith asked. “But I’m still wary of how good those terms are. Shelter, food, and money? For what? Some scraps of runescript knowledge? Animus techniques? The ambient Chaos…well, perhaps they have unique methods to deal with it.”

“It’s an alliance of convenience, if anything. And it would allow us to further our knowledge of the terrain. Whatever it is that’s drawing me…I’m not sure what it is, what we’ll encounter and what obstacles we’ll have to overcome to get to it. And much as I’d like a challenge, those warriors aren’t it.”

“And if this isn’t Siderious, then we won’t be able to recruit the Warforged to our aid,” Gwendith observed. “But, you know what, maybe we’ll find something else instead. Those pseudo Plasma Casters…while they aren’t made to channel Animus, it shouldn’t be difficult to modify them. That landcraft, too.”

“Hmmm, it is a land of wonder,” Yuriko admitted. She turned to Matthews and apologized for ignoring him, “We’re going to talk about it first. But I’m leaning towards accepting your offer.”

“You won’t regret it. At least, let us help you get out of this barbaric land,” he answered with a wide smile.

Afterwards, they had more to drink. The brown bottles turned out to contain some kind of beer. It was nice, cool, and bubbly. Though she still didn’t like the bitterness. Gwendith and Heron devoured more food than any two other people, but then, they were still in the midst of Body Forging. Considering her appetite back then, those two weren’t eating enough.

Matthews and his companion stepped out of the rented house. A couple of wolf kin kept an eye on them, while Yuriko and the others conversed. As she expected, the marines were fine with whatever she decided.

“We are to aid you in whatever you need, Knight Davar,” Horace Greenfield said. “If it is to go through thousands of foes, or to guard you against treachery, or even to accompany you to wherever that man offers, then we will follow.”

Heron and the twins were notably reluctant.

“We’re entrusting our safety to strangers,” Heron said. “But then again, it's either we accept asylum or fight an entire nation. With the paucity of ambient Chaos, the latter would be difficult and dangerous.” He grinned. “But I’ll go where you want me to.”

Braden and Orrin expressed the same sentiments, while Asami said that she really didn’t have a choice as she’d have to follow Yuriko no matter what. Desire, groggily said the same. Her Chaos Lord spent most of the time in slumber now, to conserve her Chaos Well. The single mote of distilled Chaos had not been enough and Yuriko had to up her rations to three droplets a day.

Being in a place where they weren’t in immediate danger, or at risk of getting into a fight at the drop of a hat, would allow her to recover her distilled Chaos reserves. And perhaps with that, she would be able to wake Fri’Avgi and get the animating spirit’s counsel. In the end, there was little to no other choice, and at least this way, they could get their bearings and ready themselves for what should come next.

“We agree,” Yuriko said to Edison Matthews and his grin reached his ears.