The bathysphere jetted out of the water and flew high into the air. It immediately started to spin out of control, prompting Jack to try and shield the three little girls from being flung all around the cabin by hugging them into a tight embrace. He had tried damndest to save every Little Sister he could from the clutches of that underwater hellhole and he would be damned if these three didn't get the chance to live on the surface like their other siblings. The girls screamed all the while. Jack didn't expect the sudden flinging, the sudden spinning, and the sudden screaming; nonetheless, it paled in comparison to the bathysphere unexpectedly hitting a hard surface, him letting go of the three girls, the glass breaking, and him being flung right out of the bathysphere.

When Jack's senses started to come to, he thought he was going to find himself drowning in the ocean again, hell maybe be somewhere on the beachside clinging on to a few lucky breathes as the waves pushed him to the surface and let him live. Neptune was said to be both a hindrance or a boon depending on how he favors you. Instead, his back was on a hard surface and two men looked down upon him in leather gear. One held a staff and one held an axe about twice the size of their own heads.

"Looks like he is alive. Still gonna check his pocket though."

The one with the staff simply crouched to the ground and let his staff go. It fell towards Jack and clocked him right on the nose. The one with the axe laughed.

"Don't try to struggle or that staff won't be the only thing that's hurtin ya."

Jack was still getting his bearing as the man checked his pockets. He was quick to find the wallet that presided in his pocket.

"Lookie here, a fancy coin purse. Feels light though." His excitement drained as he took a look inside, "What the? What are these? Papers?" He took about two hundred dollars out of the wallet and waved it in front of Jack before throwing it at him like they were worthless, "What? You get an artist to put the faces of random people on small green papers?"

"What do you think the number represents?" The one with the axe was somewhat curious about the papers.

"Absolutely nothing! Doubt we can get someone to pay a pretty penny for them."

"He is mad at you lad! See what happens when you don't got the coin you should be robbed of?"

"We can probably sell his sweater, but I bet the bossman would probably want to wear this for himself."

The axeman gave him a scrutinous look, "Look at him. He's skinny as a twig, while the bossman is built like a barn."

"You think that'll matter to Kostas? Oi. What's that behind his back?"

Jack felt that there was something hurting his back. One would think the two thieves would just flip him over, but the one who checked his pockets decided to do things the hard way as they yanked something from behind his back after a good amount of tugs. Jack's breathing was starting to stabilize a bit more and his eyes gazed over to the man. He observed the wrench that was pulled from Jack's back with full-on curiosity.

The man with the axe was quick to ask a question, "What is that? A staff?"

"Feels a bit weighty and almost as though it's made of iron."

"An iron staff? What use is that for?"

"I just said it feels weighty. Probably to bash some poor wretches face."

"Better to just carry a dagger around if you're afraid of people gettin up close."

The man swung the wrench around like it was brand a new toy, "I'm keeping this. It's a staff and I don't see any other mages around to heal your sorry hides."

The attention quickly shifted away from the wrench and back on to Jack. The man with the axe sighed and sheathed it before pulling Jack to his feet forcefully. He shoved him a little bit forward, "Keep walkin straight. Any wrong move an I'll behead ya." The man then changed the subject, "Bet the boss will kill him immediately."

"He looks like slave material honestly...er 20 gold."

"Make it 30."

"That's a week worth of food for one of you lot, fine 30. And don't try to take it back later."

Jack looked ahead and saw men in similarly clad outfits surrounding the lone bathysphere that was strangely away from any kind of large salty body of water source around. They were trying to roll it over. Now that he got a substantial look of his surroundings, it would appear that they were closer to a mountainous region- rather there were mountains somewhat in the distance and there was simply hard rock all about. Maybe closer to a canyon? The fact that the men for some reason wielded an assortment of swords, lances, axes, and old weaponry was not lost on him. Wait wasn't there...the freed Little Sisters with him? His mind began to flare up a bit as he almost snapped out of his daze.

A man with a sword and a bandanna on his head approached Jack and the two men 'escorting' him, "Didn't expect him to be alive. I saw him get flung right out of that fancy metal carriage earlier. You must be a tough bastard." It was obvious he was speaking to the men behind him, but he took a moment to acknowledge him directly- even for a moment.

"What do you want Torres?" The voice of the axeman called from behind Jack.

"You have any booty to share? I did discover this scene after all."

"Anybody could've found this out. Don't think you get any special treatment for bein a scout."

Any other exchange between the two was cut short as a scream was heard from the bathysphere. From the freshly rolled side came a hulky man with a large looking forehead, a somewhat cut beard, and scars and bruises on his exposed arms. The man had obviously seen more than a couple of battles and in his hands were two unconscious little girls and a blonde-haired, blue-eyed one screaming her lungs out.

"Look here, men! Three little girls who'll catch a fine price for the right bidder."

Jack's mind completely snapped out of his daze as he saw the little ones in danger. His body might still be exhausted after being flung out of the bathysphere, but he still had his duty to give the little ones a life to live.

"MR. BUBBLES, HELP!"

Jack sprung into action. Regardless of the fact that he had no weapons on him; he charged forward after quickly punching the man in the bandana and zooming past him.

"Stop him!"

An arrow lodged in his shoulder, but that didn't matter. A bullet usually hurts a lot worse. His left hand violently shook and burst into flames as he set one man charging him ablaze and quickly became coated in ice to freeze another man solid. He sprinted past as many people trying to charge him as he could and made a b-line for the man holding the girls, barely dodging past a sword, taking another arrow, and literally dodge-rolling past a man who brought an axe down on him.

He was prepared to finally charge towards the man holding the girls until the large man remembered he had leverage. The large man simply held the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl with his hand around her neck and held her out like a shield. Jack immediately stopped in his tracks a simple few feet away from the man, his hand back to normal and his immediate aggression turned to fear.

"I see even you wouldn't want to see a hair nor hide harmed on this child." The burly man smiled as he turned the girl around, "What's your name, girl?"

Her response would be to breathe as rapidly as she could, her throat dried a bit after screaming her lungs out. The man shook the girl and contorted his face to show an even more ugly side to him, "What's your name?!"

"S-sally."

Jack didn't fail to notice the many men that surrounded him, the ones with swords trained them on his neck, while the ones with axes prepared to strike at a moment's notice. He didn't care about his own well being at the moment, his eyes were completely transfixed on the girls being held in the burly man's arms.

"Sally, is it? Well, Sally, who's that?" He tilted his head over to Jack.

"M-Mr. B-b-bubbles."

The man grew a grin, "Mr. Bubbles? What sort of pathetic last name is that?!" He started to chuckle a bit before going on to full-on laughter. The men surrounding him also had a few rounds of laughter going between them as the big man laughed his pants off. Jack wasn't sure how long the man would continue laughing. He stopped after what seemed to be an entire minute of laughter. Either he genuinely found it funny or was laughing due to how pathetic it sounded to him.

The man shifted his focus to Mr. Bubbles, "I have been through this song and dance before, so let's get to business shall we? I assume these girls are important to you right? Of course they are, you wouldn't be charging at me like a madman if they weren't."

Jack did what he did best and kept his mouth shut.

"Bring him closer. He knows what's best if he decided to use his magic on me."

The swords around his neck eased off and the men around him backed off just a little, someone decided to give him more than a couple of shoves to keep him moving. As he got a couple of inches away from the bossman he was stopped. The two men who had checked his pockets earlier walked up to the man first.

"We didn't find much on him, boss." The man holding his wrench presented it to him, "All we found was this metal staff, a fancy coin purse with nothing of value in it, and the sweater he's wearing."

"You think he's a noble?"

"I have my doubts. There's no guards surrounding him or the metal carriage, the sweater is the only thing of true value on him, and he's not carrying his status around like a noble would. Haven't heard a peep from him about being from a family like most of the noble brats would. I say he's a thief who managed to get these items through coin and by stealing them. The sweater he bought, but the fancy coin purse he stole. He may look a bit clean, but with how fast he set Barn aflame and froze Tune solid, I say he's been in more than a couple of fights. Of course that's my outward observation based off his movements and apparel."

The man looked Jack in the eye and smiled, "So a thief who happens to be an offensive mage? Didn't think a twig like him would be like one of us. And the girls?"

"I would assume some orphans he took under his belt. Probably to steal things easier as no one would expect some children to be thieves."

The man smiled, "So is the smartest man in my crew right, Mr. Bubbles?"

Jack didn't bother to answer him.

"It doesn't matter. You're gonna be running with us from now on. We could use a combat mage in our ranks.I don't need to tell you what'll happen if you refuse, right? One little squeeze and these girls' necks will pop right off."

Jack lowered his guard to show that he was listening to the man.

"Good. Alright boys, we're heading back to our camp close by. Blindfold this man and keep him separate from the girls. Don't want them planning to escape."

Jack's hands were placed behind him and a blindfold was placed over his head. If they had a sack or a bag they would no doubt use it. He had many doubts about what was going to happen to him and the girls, but the girls were more of a priority for him. Any other man would've ran for themselves, showing that altruism can only get you so far. Children are quick to make and the world isn't going to run out of people just because three or so girls go missing. At least that's what denizens of Rapture would probably think. Jack wasn't going to follow in the footsteps of those monsters.

….

He lost track of the time as he was forced to keep on marching. The only indication that they were at their destination was the fact that his blindfold was forcefully torn off. They were right by a cliffside, some abandoned structures surrounded them, the ground was completely made of rock and some makeshift tents were all around. They were serious about keeping him and the girls seperate as he couldn't see a hair of them anywhere. He was forced to the ground and on his knees as the men laughed. The burly man was nowhere in sight. The man who took his wrench earlier now stood in front of him, holding it like a he owned it proudly, "You're now running with us now, Mr. Bubbles."

The men around him laughed once again, "You'll be given 1 gold piece and maybe some scraps a week to be able to live by. You'll clean our food bowls, any utensils the lucky few of us might have, and fight. Won't trust you cooking as you might have a few ways to poison our food, neither will we trust you with our clothes as sabotage might occur. As Kostas said earlier the lives of those girls depends on what you do, so don't go doing anything that'll leave you a guilty conscience."

"I am the cleric amongst these men and you'll be our combat mage. I will heal the men while you defend them with your ranged magic. Allow me to demonstrate my capabilities."

The cleric lifted the wrench and bashed it against Jack's face. He let out a grunt and blood shot out of his mouth. The cleric wasn't done as he aimed for Jack's arm with the intention of breaking it. There was a small pop, but nothing broke.

"Tough one aren't you. One more hit will do."

The man brought the wrench down right on his knees. Jack let out an exasperated gasp and almost cried cleric chuckled and knelt down. He clasped his hands together while the wrench was held by his arms. A series of seemingly incoherent words flowed from the man's mouth and his hands glowed. A flash of white blinded him for only a second and the pains he felt earlier were nulled.

It was only now that he realized something was up. He was so focused on the girls that he forgot a simple thing. He used plasmids on the surface… and this man seemingly did the same.

"What Plasmid was that?"

"Plasmid? Is that what you call healing? It's merely a basic heal spell. What I'm surprised at is your quick use of those two spells you casted earlier, but I guess that's why Kostas decided to keep you. Anyone who can cast magic that quick is wasted if they die too quickly." The cleric holding the wrench once again observed the wrench in awe, "This is very effective. I can see why you used it. Give him some kind of scrap for now."

Someone forced some kind of grub down his throat, he couldn't even begin to describe the taste as it tasted both bland and rough, barely cooked and not cooked at all.

"Get used to that kind of grub around here. Won't be seeing a fine meal for the rest of your days now."

He was placed in the earshot and eyesight of as many people as possible as he was placed in front of the tents. Hours passed as he couldn't reasonably find a way out without getting the girls killed.

He seems to have dozed off when the next thing he heard was, "Get up! It's time to prove your worth." Someone bothered to untie him and tell him of the current situation, "We spotted some knights who were following us since a long while ago. Time to prove your worth keeping alive."

The man kept his sword trained on him to remind him of his position. He didn't need to be reminded of his position.

…..

Byleth stood over the body of the man that the three little girls were crying over. She recognized the man's distinct sweater as she cut him down like the others. She didn't give him much thought other than his strange fighting style and quick use of spells. Her years of being a mercenary had her quickly adjust to his fighting style and strike him down quickly. She had no way of knowing that the man was basically a hostage to the bandits they've slaughtered. Now that she looked back on it it seemed like the man wasn't giving it his all when they fought. She had no way of knowing that the bandits would take three little girls hostages either.

"Mr. B. Mr. B get up."

They called the man Mr. Bubbles or Mr. B for short. Strange nicknames to give to him, but one could attain it to children being children. The blonde one was Sally, the brunette was Anna, and the platinum blonde one was Lia. They weren't related as far as she could tell, much less so to the man they were sobbing over.

You wish to use my power to spare this man, don't you?

Byleth didn't answer and only stared at the three girls crying. Would she be so obvious as to spare him? She's used this power for herself and her students so as to not get them killed just for this battle alone. She was already exhausted from using this power a bit too much.

Do not delude yourself into thinking that you can't do anything for this man. We share the same being you and I. I know you're contemplating whether sparing this man is worth it, especially since you have one more use of my power. Will sparing him change too much? Will sparing him mean that one of your students will die? So many questions, yet so little answers. Your indecisiveness is starting to annoy me. Would you kindly make up your mind?

Byleth stood still for a couple of seconds contemplating whether sparing this man would be worth it.

She blinked as she dodged an attack from a man wearing a white sweater, brown eyes and hair, with black pants. He had a dagger in his hands and was about to go for another strike, but instead of going for a killing strike like last time she held up her hand in a stop motion. He actually stopped in his tracks as she literally did a confusing and suicidal gesture from his perspective.

"You're not fighting of your own accord are you?"

The man stood still for a couple of seconds and nodded his head. She didn't need to say anything else as she pointed in a different direction, where she last saw the bandit leader. If she remembered correctly there was a cleric and a couple of more swordsmen with the bandit leader.

"Follow me." She said to the man as he silently nodded in agreement. He turned around and waited for her to take the lead.

She heard footfalls quickly make her way over to her after she placed a hand up for them to get closer. Ashe got close to her and whispered, "Professor, Eisner? Did you just convince him to help us?"

"He was never on their side, Ashe."

"I didn't think you were that observant to know when an enemy isn't really an enemy."

She simply waved her hand forward and charged. Ashe and the mystery man weren't far behind.

Let's see if your decision was worth it.