*000000*

Gallant shook his head. "No, I can make them feel emotions, but I can't control exactly what. Flashbang was a unique case where his thoughts would have been directed at himself as much as others. If we do it here, they might feel sad about something else, but they might just feel sad about losing the Master effect."

"Which leaves surprise. It makes the most sense, since it's the hardest to put a face to and if he does, it would probably be more about what's in front of him which would be us. Only issue is how they might react to that surprise." Amy said.

"Ash would be a problem then, and so would Bennett. I'll have to tie them down hard." Barrow Rose complained.

"Bennett? I thought you were all named after plants?" Gallant questioned.

"No, we'll offer but no one has to if they don't want to, unless they have powers. Trees for boys and flowers for girls." Barrow Rose said. "It doesn't really matter if I tell you because it's not like it really matters what our names are when we go back to fighting."

You weren't sure about the lack of relevance, but no one seemed willing to offer an argument right now. Not when they were about to try the first attempt.

"Ready? There's no visual cue so you just need to do it the moment I finish saying 'Restore', okay?" Amy asked for one last reconfirmation. Gallant nodded, gauntlets already pulsing with energy. A white magic circle formed in front of your student's outstretched arms, "Restore."

As instructed, Gallant pushed his power's energy into Barrow Oak. However, you did notice that there was a momentary flinch when the Restore spell was cast. Once he was done, Gallant tilted his head downwards and bounced his head side to side in thought. "I was affected, but it was about as much as I expected. I can confirm it works as long as you're preoccupied with something else."

Barrow Rose didn't seem to pay any attention to his words, instead looking almost in rapture at how Barrow Oak jumped back and put his hands up in a combat stance that focused on his fists and upper body.

Eventually, you could see his eyes blink from underneath the wooden bucket on his head. He then unclenched one of his fists and stared downwards directly at his opened fingers. You could see the moment that his body relaxed, prompting everyone else to drop their tension soon afterwards.

Then, to your student's surprise, or at least the only person's surprise you could notice, Barrow Oak took the bucket off of his head and stared at it. You weren't sure if it was due to the fact that he had taken off his 'mask' or because his head did not match the image in your head. His head was smaller and his face softer than you had expected for a man… er, teenager, of his size. It wasn't nearly as chiseled or block-ish as you had expected. Perhaps it was due to his age? Or his power?

At the least, it somehow managed to stay in the realm of a natural appearance and not something uncanny like imagining Ignatz's head on Raphael's body. You frowned at how that unpleasant image invaded your thoughts.

"I've made things hard on everyone, huh." Barrow Oak glumly said, before locking eyes with a Barrow Rose who was on the verge of tears. "Sorry about that, Rose. How have you and the other… girls…"

The room tensed again as Oak looked aside with closed eyes and grit teeth. His large fists were clenched and trembling. "Dammit, I can't think- I should-"

His eyes shot open and stared intensely at Barrow Rose. "Get out. Get out, now! I can't stop thinking that I shouldn't let you do that again. I can't let you do that again."

Barrow Oak went back into his combat stance before stating in a wooden tone, "I won't let you do that again."

Before Barrow Oak began moving any further, Amy had already prepared another spell and cried out, "Restore!"

However, Barrow Oak kept moving forwards until he was barreled in the chest from an energy attack by Gallant. He slid backwards, but Gallant took the returned damage with much less grace, stumbling backwards from the sudden force until he fell down.

"Oak?" Barrow Rose asked, approaching with her guard unwisely lowered, thinking the Restore spell had gone through again.

"Wait, don't!" Your student yelled out, giving Rose barely enough time to backpedal away from a clumsy hook. 'Why didn't it work?!'

'Are you thinking of him as a hostile entity?!' You rattled off the first potential issue you could think of.

'It works off of- of course it works off intent, why not?!' Your student thought with frustration. 'Okay, not a guy to fight, guy to save. Not guy to fight, guy to save.'

"Gallant! One more time!" Amy yelled, grabbing his attention as he gave a quick nod. Another magic circle was formed, "Restore!"

The moment the spell circle dissipated, Barrow Oak tried and failed to dodge another of Gallant's blast with his bulky body. You could see as his eyes widened in the artificial surprise and his fists opened up into outstretched claws. "Shit, sorry, I-"

And then Barrow Rose uppercut him in his chin hard enough to lift the front of his feet off the floor and fall backwards. His teeth had barely missed biting off his tongue, and you winced at knowing how bad that impulsive attack could have gone. Barrow Rose's movements had been intense enough to cause her dress to flow upwards barely enough for Amy to catch a glimpse of a large hunting knife holstered inside her thigh.

Gallant tumbled backwards as well, the reflected knockback laying his back flat against the floor. "Ugh. So that's how that feels."

Meanwhile, the reflected damage also applied to Barrow Rose as her own head snapped upwards uncomfortably. She then cradled the back of her neck in one hand and her jaw with the other as she cussed with audible pain in her voice even when muffled into her hand, "Fuuuuck. That was not a good idea."

Your student hadn't been idle, checking Barrow Oak's condition with a frown. "He's out cold. How hard did you hit him?!"

"Hard. Very hard. I can tell. Sort of. I put enough of my power into that, he should pass out from the pain alone." Barrow Rose spoke rapidly, trying to distract herself from the pain she herself was feeling.

"And you're okay?" Amy questioned.

"Power doesn't apply back. Already tested this." Barrow Rose gritted out in a whine.

You could tell Amy was contemplating using a Heal on her but held herself back. She was already making herself a target as it is, she didn't need to make it any bigger for an injury that wasn't mentally debilitating from how concisely Barrow Rose was still talking.

It was at this moment that Vista rushed in but stopped upon seeing the scene within, "What's going on?"

As the only one not suffering the consequences of their own attack, Amy chose to succinctly explain, "Demaster worked. Then it came back. We tried two more times and then knocked him out instead once the demaster kicked back in again."

Vista blinked and took in that information. "Oh. Then now what? Even if we do it on the rest of them and knock them out too, that means they just get mastered again once they're up?"

"Already have... idea for that." Barrow Rose said before pausing to grunt in pain. "We can go with the knockout plan. It works."

Amy frowned in thought, "Even if I can fix them all at once, it doesn't matter if Gallant doesn't overwrite their emotions. I can only do it six more times-"

"Five." Barrow Rose stated, prompting your student and her to lock eyes. She focused her gaze, as if daring Amy to say something in return.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Five times, but there are eleven of them left outside, not including the Stranger."

Gallant had pulled himself to sit against the wall as he waved, "I should be able to do two at a time. Maybe three or four if I push it."

Barrow Rose attempted to nod before immediately aborting the attempt. "Then we'll do it two at a time and save the last one to try doing three. We'll start with Ash and Elm since they can get jumped on easy enough. I'll go get Violet."

Amy and Vista helped pull Gallant to his feet while Barrow Rose trudged outside. You simply continued to watch, uncomfortable with how little you were doing even if you knew your role was important.

It took a little over half an hour, and a lot of fine maneuvering to take apart the eleven young men into isolated pairs. Since it was impossible to convince them to huddle into a room to make the process easy, Gallant and Amy effectively had to ambush them in various places in the camp that they were led to. As soon as Gallant's blast knocked them to the floor from the force, Barrow Rose would come in and punch them in the heads to guarantee their knockouts.

Vista was put on emergency backup to block any of the remaining boys from catching wind of what was happening, though thankfully her services didn't need to be risked. The unpowered girls of Lost Garden were responsible for dragging their unconscious bodies into the same storage building that Barrow Oak was also within.

Your group, now with an unaccompanied Barrow Violet, stood in the front of the encampment's central structure of a hollowed out tree. Barrow Rose eventually broke the silence, "I think you've already guessed by now, but Barrow's affected too. We thought he wasn't, and maybe that he was just being quiet because he does that sometimes. But then he started moving and would only talk to Violet about why. Whenever anyone else came, they would be told to go away or told to go get Violet instead."

"I never wanted this." Barrow Violet muttered, though all she received in return was a baleful glare from Barrow Rose that she did not hesitate to return.

"You're not getting anywhere close while we're doing this." Barrow Rose spat.

"I'm not incompetent, Rose dear." Barrow Violet spat back, but she was unable to hold the facade as she hung her head and confessed. "I want him back as much as you do…"

You could tell Barrow Rose wanted to say something more but bit her tongue before silently trudging her way towards the open doorway.

Before Amy could follow, her wrist was caught and held back by Barrow Violet. You heard as she whispered to your student. "Please. Please fix Uncle Barrow. I don't know what I'd do without him, I-I want the real him back. I-I'll do anything you want in return so please-"

Her trembling pleads were interrupted when Vista patted her arm. "Don't worry, they've got this. You'll see."

With a deep breath, Barrow Violet retracted her hand, pulled up her mask for a moment to wipe at her tears before replacing it. She was quick to return to her earlier haughty tone, "Yes, I suppose we shall."

Amy and Gallant looked at one another before shrugging. This time, there was no interruptions when they entered the hollowed out tree trunk.

It was easy for you to notice the man that all these young men and women held in high esteem when you entered. The room itself was nearly empty aside from the large wooden plank covered in bedding that likely served as Barrow's bed. You were unsure if it was because he had moved locations whilst mastered that there was a singular piece of furniture in the room, but it made it easy to spot the man sitting upon it.

Honestly, you were a little disappointed. Although his costume was gaudy, with a tunic of earthy browns broken apart with golden lines, loose pants that seemed too poofy to be practical, and a hardened clay mask that covered his eyes and nose connected around his head with thick lines that moved around and intertwined with one another, the image was ruined by the dirt stains that were barely visible through the earthly colors. Barrow looked less like a man with his power over the forest than Edward had, even when the latter was dressed casually aside from the haphazard mask and his modified arm.

Barrow wasn't a portly man, but he also certainly wasn't athletic. There wasn't a trace of muscle from what you could see of his bared arms. His dark brown hair was unkempt and frayed despite being long enough to reach his upper waist. Maybe it was your preconceptions blinding you, or the fault of his mastered state, but he only looked a few steps away from a street beggar dressed in the hand-me-downs of a fallen noble.

It didn't stop Barrow Rose from looking at the man reverently. It was uncomfortable because you knew the look as one identical to the ones of Church fanatics. They truly were insane soldiers who believed so wholeheartedly in their own cause's righteousness that when they were losing a fight, they would willingly throw themselves onto blades to make their enemies unable to defend themselves from their allies. This was one of many reasons that made magic units such as yourself vital to prevent the melee line from falling apart.

Now, your misgivings were more than ever, but there was little you could do when all parties had decided the course of action. Worse, you suspected any attempt to dodge Barrow's curing would be met violently by the Lost Garden girls who have already seen the efficacy of the treatment.

All you could do was go over the magic equations in your head repeatedly to prepare yourself for conflict.

Barrow Rose stood silent for a long time, staring at Barrow. The man himself was hunched over and staring directly ahead, so focused on something that he hadn't even twitched at anyone's arrival. Eventually, Barrow Rose weakly held up her arms with Gallant at her side and quietly requested, "Start it."

You could tell your student was wrestling with thoughts of her own as she hesitated to bring out the magic circle. However, eventually she resolved herself and went through the motions once again, "Restore."

You warned your student of the inevitable feedback of depleting all the uses of a spell once you had grown comfortable enough to cast it beyond a few experiments. However, it didn't stop the oncoming exhaustion causing her to collapse onto a knee with labored breathing.

Faith Magic is now MAXED!

You noticed that your student's breathing recovered quickly as you suspected another charge of Restore settled itself into her magic.

Meanwhile, Gallant, seeing he did not need to hide away, chose not to startle the villain with a surprise blast to the chest and instead pushed the emotions into Barrow with a soft palm.

There was a little unease when Barrow Rose couldn't find the resolve to strike her leader as he sat up straight suddenly. Her hesitation lasted long enough for Barrow to calm his body and look at her unsteady form.

"You won't need to do that, trust me." Barrow smiled. It didn't falter for a second even as Barrow Rose lowered her fists and embraced him in a tearful embrace.

You felt your spine grow ice cold. That was one of Hubert's smiles. The fake smile he had when he was holding back anger at someone else's stupidity and was already thinking of sadistic ways to destroy them completely. There were very few times Hubert smiled, and they were very recognizable and very specific. You had never thought you could recognize an identical smile on a completely different face. Perhaps you had only managed to catch it due to how Barrow's cheeks were sunken in a reminiscent manner.

You had no idea where his ire was directed nor its extent, but considering Gallant was quickly shuffling backwards, you suspected the answer to the latter was not insignificant.

"Rose, would you bring Violet with you?" Barrow asked plainly as if he was asking for a cup of tea.

Barrow Rose wilted, losing strength in her arms as they dropped from her hug. "No, I can't, we can't- none of us can lose you again."

He tapped her head consolingly, but all you could see was a man petting a whimpering dog rather than comforting a crying daughter. "Don't worry. What you believe will never come to pass. Don't you trust me, Rose?"

"I…" Barrow Rose looked to be at war with herself. "I'll do as you say."

Despite what you expected, there was no hesitation as Barrow Rose exited the room, as she exacted her order clinically. Barrow's attention then turned and that accursed smile was now directed towards your student. "I'll have to thank you. I never expected to be the recipient of a hero's good graces. If this is how it feels, perhaps villainy really isn't the right path for me."

He barked out a laugh, and had the visage of a kindly older man, but seeing Hubert's dastardly smile ruined any positive impression you had of the man. Even if Hubert had his good points, it had taken you so long to even grow remotely comfortable in his presence. And as of now, you were also not Barrow's ally past a temporary alliance, and you knew how far Hubert was willing to go against his enemies regardless of who they were.

There were still scars from when Lysithea had insisted upon sitting in on the torture session of a spy she had once trusted. Hubert hesitated, but hadn't stopped her. She believed she could handle it after having been subjected to so many horrifying experiments in her youth. But those experiments, as harrowing as they were, still treated her and her fellows as subjects that needed to be kept alive for results. This was the torture session of someone who was always going to die and they needed to get her to the point she begged for it.

It had been a mistake. It may not have taken long for Lysithea to become comfortable around Hubert again from her objective knowledge of his character, but she could never look at him as just an overbearing elder brother ever again.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble. But I'll have to ask you to wait outside, tend to the fallen hero instead. I need to have a long overdue conversation with my own wards, if you don't mind the pun." Barrow rumbled out a low chuckle.

"...I'm sorry but for the safety of-" Gallant began.

"I won't ask again." Barrow insisted, a sharp glint in his eyes as his smile fell a little. "I love all of my little trees and flowers, so I will take the insinuation that I would do anything to harm anyone in my congregation in good faith. We may be villains in your eyes but we have our own rules and regulations that wanton violence will never be tolerated as long as I remain the leader. Will that be enough of a reassurance?"

You didn't think anyone believed it was, but at this point, he wasn't asking. Amy would likely recover if things came to a head, but she was still recovering from a mage's very first time of running out of spells regardless if she now had another in store. Her inherited skills made it so it wouldn't dampen her fighting abilities, but your group might be hard-pressed in a fight right now against such a fanatical group regardless of your backup. It would also undermine all of the hard work you had done at this point, but that was a tertiary reason at best.

However, the decision was taken out of your hands.

"Understood, we'll take you at your word." Gallant said, moving to support your student. Said student had snapped her head to stare at Gallant in shock. As he picked her up and swung around towards the door, you could hear a very quiet whisper. "I'm in a little trouble right now. I'll need that power of yours as soon as you're able."

Amy closed her eyes in resignation. Gallant didn't want to leave Violet alone. Fear of whatever potential punishment she might undergo was likely overloading the same condition that caused the mastering. It was impressive he was handling himself as well as he was. The extent of his resistance wasn't clear though, and in the worst case, he would become a liability and possibly a hostage.

Paired with the orders he was likely given, Gallant had little reason not to extract himself as soon as possible. Perhaps your group could get far enough for the cavalry to arrive. Legend may be able to…

Legend was a man. And a hero that wanted to help scared children. Oh dear, you really did need to remove yourselves and reevaluate the situation.

Since it seemed your student was about to object, you had to be the bearer of ill tidings. 'Is Legend immune to mastering?'

Amy's mouth snapped shut, and she nodded at Gallant to start moving them out of the room. Once they were outside, they paused at seeing Barrow Rose and Barrow Violet rushing towards them. Barrow Violet was even skipping in her joy.

Gallant likely couldn't have stopped himself from reaching out a hand and letting out a clipped voice, "Don't go-"

Barrow Violet slipped her arm from the grip and continued skipping inside as if their presence hadn't even registered in her mind. It was terrifying how easily they were disregarded, that it made you question who the true Master of the situation was.

Amy had also lifted an arm, though her attention was shifted onto Barrow Rose. And towards her lower thigh, where she had earlier glimpsed a large hunting knife.

'Professor Thea. Stay in there. Please.' Your student made you a solemn request, though neither of you knew what you were meant to do.

From then on, it was your student supporting Gallant rather than the other way around, as the latter kept dragging his feet. They moved past the growing crowd of anxious Lost Garden girls, and regrouped with Vista, who was trying her best to keep a smile plastered on her face. She wrapped her arms around them in a hug but whispered, "Legend's been forced to fly around in a Breaker state."

Curses, you were hoping that supposition had been an idle thought. While things were becoming increasingly worrying, the operation was still technically on track. The mastering was removed, none of your group were in mortal peril, and Mark was still recoverable.

The fate of an uncontrollable human Master was the only thing in question.

Said Master was innocently cuddling Barrow alongside Barrow Rose. Barrow himself had a smile on his face, but you remembered that when he was mastered, he had been doing nothing but staring blankly ahead. Was the change due to his proximity with Barrow Violet?

Or did he simply no longer have any affection left in him for the Master effect to latch onto?

"Girls. Girls. Please, you need to give me at least a little room to breathe. And I think we need to have a serious talk." Barrow said soothingly.

In an instant, both girls were kneeling on the ground in front of him.

Barrow first turned to Barrow Rose. With evident sorrow in his eyes, he said, "Rose…you took advantage of my state to let outsiders in here. I may not have been in any state to say otherwise, but letting them know how to get in and leading them in? You know what the punishment for that is, yes?"

"Death." Barrow Rose immediately replied, without an ounce of fear. She hadn't hesitated once when reaching for her holstered knife. When it came to reactions, the most was that you could tell Barrow Violet was both holding back a smile and seemed frustrated with the fact she would smile at all.

"Yes. Rule number six." Barrow emphasized before holding up a hand softly. "However, your actions had a positive result. Has everyone been freed?"

Barrow Rose shook her head ruefully. "We don't know where Pine is. We couldn't help him."

"I see." Barrow leaned backwards and closed his eyes as a tear fell from his eye. "A shame. Perhaps there may be a way to help our wayward tree in the future."

"You've done me more proud than I care to admit." Barrow continued. "However, I cannot disregard the rules I've set for the sake of everyone's safety and happiness. But I can make an exception to the punishment. Rose, you will be hereafter expelled from the Lost Garden to never return. You and all those that went with you to the outside world for help. I will allow you to keep your name and collect your belongings."

At this, Barrow Rose's tears flowed without a dam, but she managed to stutter out, "I… I… I thank you for your generosity, Barrow."

You wondered if that was Barrow's form of showing mercy. It still felt uncomfortable. Was there a chance that this could end peacefully?

"Now, Violet." Barrow turned his head.

"Yes, Uncle Barrow?" Violet responded gleefully.

It was then that you had seen the facade slip. Barrow chastised with severe eyes, "How many times have I told you not to call me by that title? Hm?"

"I-I'm sorry…" Violet shrunk herself into her dress.

"You understand that a simple apology would not make up for the chaos you have wreaked upon our congregation, correct?" Barrow loomed over Violet, who nodded shamefully. "Rose, would you remind Violet what rule number two was?"

Violet tilted her head in confusion, "I know what number two is? Any member who endangers the congregation is to be-"

You watched as Barrow's eyes grew increasingly cold. You watched as Barrow Rose was reaching for the hunting knife strapped to her thigh.

Amy was tensing herself to sprint in your direction.

You knew where this was going. You've seen it before.

[ ] Interfere. Save her. You knew this would likely end in a fight but you weren't going to simply stand by.

[ ] Inform Gallant, Vista, and Legend about what was happening as quickly as the two of you could. This would almost definitely end in a fight but if they reacted in time, you could keep to your intangible form.

[ ] Materialize out of sight and coordinate with your student to use the most destructive spells you could where you could keep hidden. Maybe you could distract them? (-1 Emulation Energy)

[ ] Let it happen… Keep invisible unless fighting breaks out. If it does, use energy only as necessary to cover a fighting retreat with Gallant carrying Flashbang and the rest of you making sure they get out.

[ ] Write-In.

If you choose to fight, you cannot know how long or intense it may be. Choose a energy spending strategy if an appropriate option was taken above: s