Ritsuka hardly blinks an eye when the doors to his cage are torn off their hinges and flung at the wall behind him. The false Jeanne strides dangerously towards him, sword drawn, Caster following dutifully behind her. The way the kitsune smiles, and the way she wags her tails, tells him that something awful is about to happen to him.
That's good. It means something awful has already happened to them.
He smirks as the Witch approaches, as smug as he can manage, even as her blade comes dangerously close. She won't kill him, because that would mean he wins, and she's far too prideful to stoop to that level. Provided that she does not get angry enough to lose all rational thought.
"You know, just for the record, this was all part of the plan."
Dammit, Ritsuka. Stop angering the vengeful witch. Even if it is extremely fun.
"I am letting you go."
He blinks. That was not part of the plan. "Excuse me?"
"The battle for Paris will be beyond human reckoning. I can no longer ensure your safety as my prisoner. You. Are. Free." The witch scowls, and clearly hates. But she does not deviate from the conduct of war expected of her. "Leave this cell before the city burns in the fires of war, or you will die." She inclines her head, and behind her Tamamo mutters a phrase. The chains binding him dissolve instantly, and for the first time in days Ritsuka is free to move around. The freedom is, funnily enough, liberating.
He stands up, rubbing his wrists. They're badly bruised and bleeding, even despite treatment by Caster's hands, but he'll live. The bits of crest he's inherited are already at work. He looks at the witch, finally standing taller than her. "Why?" Ritsuka asks.
She does not immediately reply. The Dragon Witch turns, her back facing RItsuka. "You are worthless to me now, not even worth the energy to burn. Leave before I reconsider."
She storms off before he can engage her again, likely to manage her forces. Tamamo no Mae remains, giving him a coy look from behind the folds of her sleeve. They stand there looking at each other, the fox cheeky, himself hesitant, for a while longer.
Finally, she breaks the silence. "She likes you~"
He sighs. Of course she would ship them. "And why are you still here?" Ritsuka asks.
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just here to be cryptic yet adorable~"
"Why are you like this?"
Tamamo giggles, eyes narrowed with mirth. She then plants her hands on her hips and looks away with a huff. "Still, it sure is generous of my Master to release you from the cell directly. It'll save you so much time, and me so much effort."
"...Are we by the walls?" Ritsuka asks.
"Of course not, that would leave you vulnerable to attack and rescue! You're a higher class of hostage, Ri-tsu-ka~"
A flash of irritation washes over Ritsuka, but he is still not in the business of blowing up over small matters. "Then why the hell would it save me ti-oh." He narrows his eyes. "Were you… are you giving me information?"
Tamamo shakes her head. "I'm merely gossiping! Only the slimiest, most perfidious of spies would dare eavesdrop on my innocent maidenly gossip!"
"Who are you gossiping with."
"You, of course!" Tamamo giggles and pats him on the head with a paper fan. "There there, you'll get it someday~"
She's infuriating, helpful, and extremely infuriating about it. "Why are you telling me where it is?"
"Oh, I haven't. Yet," she adds quickly, "but who knows? Maybe you've seduced me~"
"I thought you were faithful to the other Jeanne!"
Another giggle. "Oh, you thought. But you know what happens when you assume~"
"You know you aren't even playing mind games, right? You're just saying words and pretending you're a mastermind."
"Maybe! Or maybe you need to get good, Ritsuka." She turns about her heel and waves at him. "Now, looks like I have a bed to warm! Ciao~"
In the distance, as the group continues their march to the capital, a sudden shudder passes over the back of Mash Kyrielight. It's a brief sensation that nevertheless unnerves the servant of the shield as her concentration, previously focused on her surroundings, was broken.
"Hah, looks like the idiot did it again." before she attempts anything, her other master speaks out in a tired tone, seemingly out of nowhere, Mashu looks on as Kana limits herself to slap her face for a moment before her curiosity takes over.
"Um, what do you mean sempai?" the girl of purple hair asks as they keep up the trail.
Turning only her face to look at her, Mash takes notice of an apparent disbelief in the redhead's expression. "It's a twin sense of sorts" she begins speaking, oddly in a dead tone as Mashu notes "whenever a girl took interest in that dumbass, I would somehow know about it before anyone could get close to him."
'What?' It was strange, she wasn't in danger yet somehow Mash felt dread in her heart, suddenly, the other noises around didn't register in her mind.
"I swear, if he gets to first base with that Dragon Witch, I'm going to ram Asriel up..." whatever words the other twin were saying, Mashu didn't hear; no, if anything she was starting to feel a fire growing within her as they got closer and closer to Paris.
Before she was angry, with herself for her failure at protecting Ritsuka and with the woman that abducted him; but now, now her vision was starting to turn red as the thoughts continued to circle in her mind. Did that
witch seduced him? Did he seduced her instead? What were they doing before they got to-.
"Umm Mash" Her train of thought is stopped by the redhead, this time tapping her in the shoulder with an expression of...wait, is it fear she sees in her?
"You know I'm not really serious right?" Kana half laughs as she tries to calm the knight.
The girl looks down without breaking her pace, a second passes before she looks up again, a radiant smile on her face. "It's okay sempai, I'm alright, let's do our best on Paris."
For a reason unknown to her, Kana really wished that Mash wasn't smiling.
------
In an infinite stream beyond the knowledge of mortals, two souls look on. Then, one of the two hits the other in the shoulder.
"Why does our son has to have your luck with girls?" Says a girl with twintails and dark hair; her counterpart, of short red hair, limits himself to laugh, half in amusement, half in fear.
