City torn by Blood and Betrayal – I
Dr. Roman, or Solomon whichever you prefer to call him as, called the seven new masters. As they prepared the next mission.
"Alright, are you all ready for your first mission?"
The five of them agreed in unison, all dressed in the newest Chaldea battle suit while their servants stood behind them. The five stared at Shiori and Ritsuka who were dressed in the standard uniform of a Chaldea master.
"We'll be fine don't worry." Ritsuka said waving a reassuring hand to the newer masters, but he turned Dr. Roman and said. "I hope you don't send us in the middle of nowhere like most of the time."
"Don't worry." Dr. Roman replied. "I did some improvements, this time you don't have to worry getting sent in the middle of nowhere. Besides that could go wrong?"
Five seconds immediately after Rayshifting they found themselves freefalling in the sky.
"You had one job!" Shiori screamed as they fell out of the sky, down below them they saw a battle going underway.
"Rider!" Liliane screamed, immediately Astolfo materialized in front of her.
"You called Master?" He grinned at her.
"Get us out of the sky!" all the masters shouted.
"You got it Master!" He made a salute and eventually materialized Hippogriff and had each one seated atop it, and upon landing the masters quickly scrambled out and got down as there was still a battle underway.
"Mashu!" Ritsuka called, she moved next to him. "Are they humans?"
"Yes." She answered as bullets zipped past them, but before she can continue her explanation the sounds of gunfire and shouting stopped suddenly.
"Is it over?" Sigmund asked as he hesitated standing up in fear of getting shot.
"Would you stop fighting when a bunch of teenagers and some weird griffin landed in what appears to be no man's land?" Dimitri asked him.
"Fair enough."
Immediately they were surrounded by the soldiers. Who had instead chosen to work together against them instead of fighting.
Tumayo kayo! Sino kayo!
(Translation: Get up! Who are you!)
One of the soldiers, most likely the officer yelled as he aimed their weapons at them.
"What are they saying?" Shiori asked.
"Maybe they want us to stand up and surrender." Ritsuka replied. "Backhand tactic."
"Got it." Shiori nodded.
The rest nodded as they stood up with arms raised high in surrender, but before they can initiate the Backhand tactic, they were then approached by a young woman with tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes, all while dressed in a military uniform, unlike most of the men she was notably the shortest, probably around 5 flat.
"She reminds me of Artoria." Shiori said.
"Yeah she does look like her." Ritsuka replied.
'Sino kayo?' The Woman asked, realizing that they do not speak their language she rolled her eyes and said. 'Nǐ huì shuō zhōngwén ma?'
(Translation: 1.) Who are you? 2.) Do you speak Chinese?)
"English do you speak English then?"
"Yes. Yes we speak English." Ritsuka replied while the rest nodded in agreement. The young woman looked behind them to find that their enemy had already left she let out a sigh and said.
"You're coming with me, we have a lot of questions to ask."
They were then brought back to a fortress where they were lock up inside separate cells to prevent them from escaping.
"What did I miss?" Dr. Roman's hologram materialized in from of them.
"You had one job!" They all screamed at him.
"You sent up in the middle of them air and now we got captured." Shiori said.
"This is Okeanos all over again." Mashu replied, she then realized what she said and turned to the younger masters. "Do not drink any liquor."
"Why is that?" Hakuno asked, before Mashu can explain the young woman from earlier arrived and turned to Ritsuka.
"You, come with me." She said as she had her men open the door to his cell and gestured him to follow. Which then led to room with a small table with tea and what appears to be bread with cheese and sugar on it.
"Take a seat." She said as she placed a revolver on the table and sat down pouring a cup of tea for herself. "My name is Emilia Aguinaldo, Commander-in-chief of the Republic of the Philippines. And you are?"
"Ritsuka Fujimaru, I'm from an organization called Chaldea." He explained Emilia casually drank from her teacup while gesturing him to continue explaining.
"So you're not sent by the Confederacy?"
"Confederacy?"
"An alliance consisting my political rivals that want me dead." Emilia explained as she picked up a piece of bread and began to eat it. "Considering you don't know any of that, I can assume you're not part of them. However I want to know why you and your companions are here."
Ritsuka then proceeded to explain to her, that he and his companions are part of an organization that seeks out the Holy Grail and that is it possible that the Confederacy had gotten their hands on it.
"That's a very wild story you have there boy." She said with a confused looked. "I would gladly say such things don't exist but then again, most of my companions used Talismans that made them stronger and braver in combat, and some of my people have at least tried the occult so it seems I have to believe your story."
"I'll allow you and your friends to continue your mission." She explained eyeing his reaction, which remained stoic.
"Under the condition that you and your 'Servants." She said making a quote-unquote gesture. "Help out in defeating the Confederacy."
"Only if you grant us the ability to act as we please Miss Aguinaldo." Ritsuka said firmly, she simply smirked at the young man and replied.
"Daring aren't you." She said as she enjoyed her drink. "I'll let you only if one of you defeats me in combat."
"So he's your man in fighting me?" Emilia asked as she eyed Bedivere, specifically his right arm after her interrogation with Ritsuka, they had then gathered at the courtyard of the fortress to duel, many of her soldiers looked to see what's going on. "What happened to your right arm?"
"I'm afraid that's a secret, ma'am." He replied courtly. She simply chuckled as she pulled out a pair of swords from a nearby officer, handing it to Bedivere.
"Would you like to use something else?" She offered, as she noticed Bedivere checking the blade's condition. "Don't worry, those are the finest swords you'll see. I have no intention of sabotaging it."
"Very well." Bedivere said making a swing holding it in his left hand, his green eyes eyed her dark brown ones. "Shall we begin?"
"First one to disarm the other wins." She replied, the two assumed fighting stances and waiting for whomever wishes to make the first move.
It was Emilia who made the first move, sprinting forwards towards the Knight immediately putting him on the defence, as soon as she is within killing range she thrusted her sword at him, aiming towards the neck only for him to quickly move to the side. She pulled the sword away and made another thrust towards him only to be parried by Bedivere as he closed the distance between the two of them and proceeded to use a series of thrusts and slashes.
The two continued with their battle until Emilia thrusts her rapier at Bedivere's face only for him to block it with his right hand, taking her by surprise while using that he quickly yanked the sword away disarming her fully.
"Not bad." She replied with a chuckle. "Though I didn't expect you to use your hand to disarm me, I suppose that's a secret weapon then?"
"Yes, it actually is." Bedivere smiled at her as he returned the sword to her.
"Well a deal is a deal, we'll grant you and your team freedom to do whatever you wish."
Ritsuka was about to reply until one of the Captains rushed in and whispered something to Emilia. Her light-hearted smile eventually faded and was replaced with worry.
"We need your help."
Shiori felt an uneasy presence as they trekked through the forests. According to Emilia or Emi as she and the rest of the girls (and Astolfo) had proceeded to call her, that they had been chasing this spirit that they believe can help them turn the tide against the Federacy as such they are tasked in finding the spirit. But the fact that this area is covered in mist and that there is this feeling where the team is being watched.
"Master…" Mashu commented walking towards her and Ritsuka.
"Something wrong Mashu?"
"I'm detecting a Servant nearby."
"Could it be that this spirit they're after is a Servant?" Ritsuka commented.
"It's possible." Mashu replied, Shiori then turned to the others and said.
"Keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual. Oh and Dimitri?"
"Yes?" He asked moving close to Shiori.
"Send Assassin to scout ahead for any servants nearby." She replied, he nodded and then Serenity materialized next to him and started to move ahead.
"Should I send Rider to accompany her?" Liliane offered.
"Do it." Ritsuka replied, immediately Astolfo mounted his hippogriff and flew off.
"Where do you think this spirit is?" Haruna asked as she looked around.
"Found him." Sigmund said as he stood in front of a massive tree. The rest sprinted towards him to find a handsome man in his early twenties with neatly combed black hair dressed in a formal suit. Sitting underneath a tree as he appears to be engrossed in writing in a leather bound notebook he has in his lap.
"Hm?" The man looked up only to realize someone was in front of him.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there." He said straightening his posture and closed his notebook making a polite smile. "My name is José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, or simply Jose for simplicity."
He noticed the command seals on the each of the teens and said.
"Ah so you're a master, well in that case I would like to inform you that I am a Ruler Class servant." He stood up and offered them a hand to each one but immediately his face turned into a serious gaze. "But formalities aside, I need your aid."
