"FINALLY!" The assassin roared, throwing his head back to cackle malevolently, "WE MEET AGAIN!"
Shaking his head, Yuri groaned. "You've got to be kidding me…"
Taking notice of his distress expression, Judith tilted her head. "An acquaintance of yours?"
"Hardly," He grumbled lowly. Swinging his sword, he aimed the sharp tip at their enemy. "So, Judy," he began, gaining her attention. "You up for the challenge?"
The female lancer beamed. "No need to ask," She replied, followed by a playful wink, "I'm itching to make the first strike anyway,"
Yuri grinned. "By all means, ladies' first," He implied, granting her permission.
And that was all it took for Judith to spring into action. Charging in, she swept her spear in a quick rotation and thrust it forward.
"Luna Rise!"
Quick as lightning, she hit the assassin multiple times, followed by a powerful jump.
The assassin shook his head, recovering his momentum in seconds and proceeded to ascend as well. Once he was at close proximity with her, he launched an attack, delivering a swing of continuous slashes.
Judith geared herself, encasing her hold onto her spear as she was struck with a powerful blow. One after the other, she managed to parry his attacks. When the assassin tired himself out, she brought her hand close to her mouth and emitted a whistle. In response, the wind gave her the boost she needed to knock the assassin swirling downwards.
"Go!" She cried in midair.
Nodding, Yuri dove in.
With his left arm raised above his head, he aimed his blade at the descending opponent's chest. "Hraaah!"
Sensing this, Zagi raised his daggers in front of him, deflecting the attack.
"Like I'm gonna fall for that again!" He countered, parrying a direct strike from Yuri's sword before retaliating back with a lunge from his daggers. Once he was back on solid ground, he rushed forth. "Now…DIE!"
Yuri retreated back a few steps, successfully evading his attacks from left through right.
At some point, the daggers brushed past his cheek, searing his skin. He fought back a curse and took this fleeting moment to attack more aggressively.
"Thunder moon!"
Judith's outburst, accompanied by a loud rumbling noise overhead, caused Yuri to jump back. His eyes widened in awe as a collective sequence of bluish-purple lightning materialized out of thin air, striking the assassin on the spot.
Seconds passed and the lightning eventually ceased from the heavens.
"Agh!" The assassin snarled, collecting himself together. He blinked his eyes furiously in an attempt to regain his balance. Recovering his sight, he wielded his daggers forward and lunged himself at Yuri. "TAKE THIS!" As the assassin shoved his elbow at him, Yuri immediately responded with his own in defense.
"Your name…" The assassin huffed, shooting a glare at him, "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"
Yuri clenched his teeth. "Like hell, I'll tell you!" Spinning his heel, he proceeded to slam his back against him. He then threw in a roundhouse kick and a punch at his abdomen, earning a distasteful groan from the latter as he was sent flying several feet back.
As he attempted to get back up, a howling gale reached his ears.
Looking up, the assassin widened his eyes and hastily leaped back, escaping the deadly kiss of the spear. Gritting his teeth, he lashed out, "YOU ASKED FOR IT!"
With his narrowed eyes focused in on the lancer who landed gracefully back down, he seized this opportunity to counter.
Luckily, Yuri came in, just in time to block the hit supposedly for her.
Blinking her eyes twice, Judith motioned her head, quite startled. "Yuri!"
Before she could intrude in, Yuri grunted, exerting more pressure into his effort to push the other away with his sword.
"YOU'RE NAME IS YURI, EH?" The assassin wondered aloud, broadening his grin as he hunched his back to strike an intimidating pose. "I'M ZAGI—"
"Who cares?" Yuri growled, flinging his sword and reclaiming it. "Are we gonna fight or not?" As he delivered his words, he arched a mocking eyebrow. "Or are you just gonna stand there barking?"
Judith chuckled, catching the assassin's attention.
"He's got a point there, you know," She agreed, smiling.
Zagi clenched his jaw. "WHY, YOU…" He muttered, loud enough for the pair to hear him.
Directing his line of vision toward the swordsman and lancer, he glared daggers at them.
"ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU, I'M GONNA CARVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY BLOOD AND THEN CUT YOUR BODIES UP INTO MILLIONS OF PIECES!" He declared boastfully, "YES, YES! JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!"
Yuri cringed. "…That's disgusting,"
Exchanging quick glances with Judith, who in turn flashed him a wink, Yuri shook his head and closed his eyes shut. "Get ready," He warned her, tightening his grip on the handle of his sword.
Judith nodded, getting into her usual stance.
"COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!" Zagi bellowed with all his might.
Finally, Yuri reopened his ebony eyes—driven with raw willpower.
Once more, he fixated his sights on the assassin.
"You want revenge?" He raised his voice, smirking devilishly. "BRING IT!"
On the other end of the spectrum—within the interior base of the train, Estelle and Rita made haste to get to the engine room.
Along the way, they encountered more passengers, seeking a place for refugee prior to the hijacking. Ever the orator, Estelle was the one to step forth and direct them toward the freight carts.
Minutes passed and as they continuously hopped from one train cart to another, they eventually found themselves in what appears to be a dark and dingy room.
"This must be it…" Rita murmured, plucking her goggles back on and entering inside.
Estelle remained quiet as she followed after her, though made sure to keep their distance to a certain degree.
As the pair walked in, Rita flickered the light switch along the way.
In response, the expanse of the room lit up—and upon first sight, Estelle turned pale.
Everywhere—the bland-tinted walls, the metallic flooring, including the unconscious bodies of the Conductors and employees—were painted with splatters of fresh, red blood. The smell of rotting decay and other wastes flared their nostrils, forcing them to pinch their noses from inhaling it in.
Estelle bit her lower lip, collecting her hands together and gripping them tightly.
As Estelle preoccupied herself with a silent prayer, Rita took this opportunity to search through the room. She crinkled her nose as she did her best to avoid stepping on the bodies and the massive pools of blood encircling around them.
"…How awful," Estelle spoke up, breaking the silence.
"I agree," Rita mumbled, avoiding eye contact, "But now's not the time to mourn them. If we don't do something about the train, who knows how many more lives are in jeopardy?"
From the corner of her eye, she noticed a secret passageway tucked between the large dense walls. After a few steps in, she halted midway in her tracks.
She brought her right hand close to her exposed chest, tapping the ruby on the center. Instantly, a large holographic projection materialized in front of her. Tucking her green book between the spaces of her underarm, she proceeded to set her fingers on the floating keyboard and tinkered away.
Once Estelle finished reciting her prayer, she cast a look at her companion. "What are you doing?"
"Getting access to the main controls," The brunette answered quickly as her fingers danced along the keyboard in a rapid manner. "In the meantime, keep an eye on any intruders."
Estelle nodded, abiding her request.
Turning around, she tiptoed back toward the same direction from whence they came. Before she could take another step, something caught her by the ankle. Alarmed, she quickly motioned her head to face a barely-conscious girl crawling toward her, her clothes somewhat torn.
"Please…" She begged, her coral-colored eyes glossy. "Help me…"
Right away, Estelle followed her instincts, stretching her arm to lend a helping hand. "Here," She said, smiling sweetly.
The girl returned the gesture, lifting her hand to accept hers…
A sharp noise caught her attention.
Slowly, Estelle turned around. Her eyes lengthened in size as she found herself face-to-face with a lime-green haired girl sporting ruffled pigtails, a short sword equipped in her hand and was aimed square at her temple.
Estelle swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to process what was occurring.
When she pried her mouth to open, an unknown force pulled her downwards, reeling her to fall down into the pool of blood.
Hearing this, Rita stopped what she was doing and turned around. "What's going—" Her words faltered the second she saw two mysterious girls cornering the poor pink-haired woman. "Estellise!"
Though her cry managed to reach her companion's ears, the twins, on the other hand, didn't seem to care one bit about her presence.
"Can't believe you'd fall for that simple trick!" A voice piped in, belonging to another girl, red hair with curly pigtails, who bore a strikingly similar appearance to the other intruder that walked in.
"What a fool," The green haired one added in, slanting her head to the side, "Guess this is bye-bye for you— "
Suddenly, something hit her square on the head. "Agh!" She cried, dropping to the ground.
"Droite!" The other exclaimed, her expression filled with concerned.
As she crouched down to aid her sister, she spotted an item next to her. Surprised to discover that the cause of her sister's pain was a green book, she clenched her jaw. Consumed with anger, she hastily turned back to face the pink-haired woman. "You did this to her, didn't you?"
"No, I did," Rita interrupted nearby, gaining the latter's attention. Lowering her goggles, she shot the female a cold glare. "Got a problem with that?"
The red-haired girl seethed. "Why you— "
When she attempted to move, she noticed her twin struggling to stand up. "Droite!"
"I'm fine, Gauche," The green-haired girl assured, her hand still planted on the side where the book initially hit her.
Gauche bobbed her head. Inching a bit closer to her twin, she noticed that the pink-haired woman was slowly rising to her feet.
Getting into a battle stance, Estelle unsheathed her rapier from the socket of her belt.
"You must be the ones responsible for the hijacking of the train," She began, her gaze unflinching despite her fear. "Tell me…where is Yeager?"
"Yeager isn't here," Gauche countered, "He left a long time ago."
"Which means everything is going according to plan~" Droite sang merrily, directing her short sword at the princess. "And that means we win and you lose~"
Estelle's expression hardened.
"No, you're wrong," She chided, debunking their statement. "We will not yield here!" At that moment, she raised her rapier to deliver a series of slashes aimed at them.
Unfortunately, the twins managed to block her attacks and leaped back—with Droite on the right and Gauche on the opposing left.
"Sis, take bubblegum," Droite instructed her sister, whipping out her blade. She then set her sights on the brunette who automatically slipped to a battle pose. "I've got a bone to pick with this pesky rat."
Gauche silently nodded, bringing her hand behind her to reveal a strikingly similar weapon.
And just like that, twins advanced to their respective targets.
What was supposed to be a few minutes of minor clashing transitioned into that of a full-on brawl.
Yuri took a step back, feeling his energy beginning to drain.
"You still with me, Judy?" He asked the lancer nearby.
Judith nodded firmly, her eyes still trained on their opponent.
Following her line of vision, Yuri groaned.
Regardless of how many times the two of them attacked and parried back, there seemed to be no end to this. Gritting his teeth, Yuri jumped back into the fray and went for the offensive.
In retaliation, Zagi blocked the hit, side-stepping to dodge another incoming attack. Angling his body, he gripped his daggers and lunged at the latter, launching a flurry of swift blows in the process.
Yuri instinctively caught wind of this, evading the powerful slashes as best as he could. As he dodged for the umpteenth time, he managed to deliver a few punches and dropkicks.
Ensuring that the assassin was distracted, Judith took this window of opportunity to leap into the air. Twisting her spear, she proceeded to twirl around and around, increasing the velocity surrounding her form.
"Moonbeam!" She yelled, reappearing above Zagi and throwing her weapon at him, landing a critical hit.
Finally, the assassin dropped to his knees, cradling his heavily wounded arm.
Once Judith returned to the ground, she was greeted with the occasional fist bump from the swordsman.
Directing his focus on their enemy, Yuri smirked. "Give up?" He wondered, stationing his sword against his shoulder.
"YOU'RE TOUGH…VERY TOUGH," Zagi commented in-between his ragged breathing, nodding to himself. Throwing his head back, he laughed in a psychotic manner.
"YES, YOU'RE DEFINITELY TOUGH! AND I CERTAINLY WON'T FORGET THAT!" He lifted his chin and made a sickly grin. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU SOMEDAY, YURI. GONNA CARVE YOU INTO LITTLE PIECES!"
Before Yuri opened his mouth to protest, the assassin slowly rose, staggering a bit in place before strutting off to the edge of the roofing.
"Hey!" Yuri exclaimed, his eyes widening. "What are you— "
With a devious grin, Zagi spread his arms out and jumped down, down and into the depths of the woodlands.
Bewildered by this, Yuri and Judith rushed to the same corner where Zagi had once stood. Gazing below, they searched for any signs of his presence.
"Did he make it?" Judith asked, arching her eyebrow.
On cue, a rustling sound was heard from one of the nearby trees.
Fixating their attention on that particular area, they were surprised to find a familiar blob of reddish-yellow hair emerges from the trees.
"What an interesting character," Judith commented as she watched Zagi clumsily hop from one large branch to another.
Yuri rolled his eyes. "Hopefully this would be the last time we see him…" He drawled out, placing a hand on his hip. "So, what now?"
As soon as he said those words, an explosion erupted.
Yuri blinked once, then twice. "What…was that?"
The tips of Judith's lips curved slightly downward.
"Oh, no…" She murmured, squeezing the grip of her spear. Bringing her hand to the shell of her ear, she pressed the earpiece and cried, "Rita? Rita, do you copy?"
No response.
"Rita, please answer!"
Still no response.
Switching off the other line, Judith glanced over to the swordsman. "Guess this is where we part for now," She brought two fingers close to her lips, emitting a loud whistle.
A sudden gust of wind was summoned beneath her feet. As she prepares to soar into the air, her ears picked up the sound of scampering feet along the roofing. Motioning her head around, she noticed that it was Yuri rushing off elsewhere.
Jumping high, Judith managed to maneuver herself forward until she was close enough to approach the dark-haired man. "Going back to your girlfriend?" She asked, startling him.
"She's not…" He retorted, only to stop mid-sentence and let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, I have to make sure she's okay."
Judith beamed. "Want a lift?" She offered, gesturing to the wind.
"I can't fly like you," He pointed out.
"Oh, you mean this?" Judith replied, gesturing to her floating figure. "No, this isn't my doing. It's his." And then raised her hand upwards, pointing her finger to the nocturnal sky.
A heavy bellow from the heavens caused the swordsman to look up.
Raising his head, Yuri's eyes widened—
"Is that a dragon?"
"Ba'ul, you mean," Judith corrected him, her voice sounding pleasant before changing into that of urgent. "I'll explain later. Time is of the essence."
Yuri nodded firmly, accepting her hand.
With the aid of Ba'ul and his impressive winds, together, the female lancer and swordsman zoomed ahead.
"Hang tight, Rita," Judith murmured under her breath. "I'm coming…"
The clashing of swords, along with a few sparks and fury, rang throughout the expanse of the room.
Estelle retreated a few steps as Droite swiped her short sword in rapid motion. Catching an opening, she ducked down and swung her rapier at the latter.
Unfortunately, Droite became aware of her intentions and with surprising speed, successfully blocked her strike.
For about a minute, the two opposing females stood there at a standstill.
Whirling her head, Estelle glanced over to her right—her seafoam eyes carefully watching the short brunette and green-haired girl a few meters away from where she currently stood.
Rita and her opponent, Droite, appeared to be taking their time, walking around in circles, sizing each other up, waiting for either of them to initiate the first move.
After what seemed like an eternity, Droite stepped in. Wasting no time, she hurled herself into the ceiling before descending, dropping a merciless kick in the process.
Quickly, Rita attempted to go for the offensive but with little to no options on her sleeve, she was forced to dodge. After a split second, a harsh kick to the face sent her spiraling to the ground.
Getting back up, Rita winced as she lightly touched the fresh purple bruise on her cheek and forehead. A low growl escaped her throat.
"Oh…That is it!" Rita suddenly cried, gritting her teeth. "I am so gonna make you regret that!"
Whipping out her scroll, she untied the knot with her teeth and flung it into the air, enveloping herself in the whirlwind of endless parchment of paper.
As she danced around, a glowing reddish sphere manifested, engulfing her tiny form in its intricate framework made of ancient formulas. "Oh uncondensed locus, annihilate the vulgar before me…" Rita chanted lowly under her breath.
As she finished her sentence, she raised her hand forward, enabling the sphere around her to dwindle and reappear in front of her, this time taking the shape of a large cannon. Taking a deep breath in, she exclaimed aloud, "SPIRAL FLARE!"
With the flick of her finger, a fiery ball of fire, nearly twice the size of her own, emerged from inside the cannon and was released—zeroed in the twins who attempted to regroup but to no avail. And the next thing she knew, the far corner of the engine room exploded.
Prior to the impact of the raging blast, it resulted in a massive wave of dust particles and scorches of flames idly frolicking about. The ringing sound in her ear was deafening, to which she resorted to tearing off the earpiece and putting it inside the pocket of her shorts.
As the smoke gradually extinguished and faded, a triumphant grin appeared on Rita's lips, though was quick to dissipate when she noticed that the twins were nowhere to be seen nor found. From the looks of it, they seemed to have escaped through the abnormally large hole on the other side of the room.
"…Damn," She cursed, adjusting her goggles. "I'll get them next time, for sure."
As she took in the chaos, a thought occurred to her.
"Estellise?" Rita spoke up, only to cough in the process in the midst of the flames and misty black clouds around her. "Can you hear me? Speak up!"
Narrowing her eyes, she searched the debris and rumble in sight.
Eventually, she noticed a blob of pink-hair coming into view.
Heaving a sigh of relief, the short brunette approached the woman.
Much to her surprise, the latter was still standing. Compared to her, Estelle's wounds were devastating as they were open and could easily be infected. And yet, here she was, disregarding her poor health and instead, was tampering with the controls of the engine.
"We…need to get this train…to function…" Estelle stressed, coughing brashly. "We must…for the sake of…the people on board."
Shocked by her words, Rita shook her head and cried aloud, "That's my job, you know."
Pressing the ruby jewel on her choker, the holographic projection, along with her keyboard manifested. Once more, she returned to the task she initially came here in the first place—reviving the train. "I'll handle this."
While Rita drowned herself in her work, Estelle stood there, confused and uncertain as to what to do next. Slowly but surely, her world was spinning and she could feel herself beginning to fall…
She closed her eyes, volunteering herself to succumb to the embrace of the darkness.
Expecting the cold, hard flooring to hit her back and crawl along her skin, instead, she felt something radiant and warm against her…and it was breathing.
Confused, she lifted her chin and looked up.
Long trails of black entered her vision, flowing down and tickling her bruised cheeks.
…Dark ebony with a hint of worry and relief.
"...Yuri?" She croaked, followed by a cough. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," The dark-haired man confirmed, flashing her a lop-sided grin. "Can you stand?"
Estelle crinkled her eyebrows as she attempted to move, only to fall back down in his arms. "No, I can't..."
"That's fine," He assured her, his voice surprisingly gentle and soft. "Rest easy for now, okay?"
With half-lidded eyes, she mustered a soft smile and just like that, she gave in.
"Rita! Are you alright?" Judith exclaimed in an urgent tone, hastily approaching the teenager. Checking to make sure that the latter wasn't inflicted with heavy wounds, she finally emitted a low sigh of relief. "Why didn't you respond when I called you?"
The brunette casually shrugged, her eyes trained on the projection in front of her. "Does it matter?"
Judith loosened the grip of her spear. "I thought we were in this together." She murmured, just loud enough for the other to hear.
Fortunately, Rita did and she paused what she was doing to move her head to face the older woman. "I'm fine, you know," She stated matter-of-factly, gesturing to her slightly burnt clothes and smoky hair. "So don't worry. I know what I'm doing." And then returned to her work.
Hearing this, Judith couldn't help but produce a bittersweet smile. Leaning a bit closer, she lessened the distance between her and her master. "Rita~"
Groaning, the short brunette turned around. "What now?"
Chuckling lightly, the female lancer withdrew, collected her hands behind her back and softly said, "Please pay attention to me~"
Rita blushed as she suddenly found herself in an awkward situation.
"Look, let me focus on this, okay?" She protested, daring to avoid eye contact with her partner. "I'll...reward you with your efforts later." She stammered, her face turning red. "Now, quit bothering me and let me do this!"
All Judith could do was shake her head and smile. "As you wish," She cooed before leaning in to give her a quick peck behind her exposed neck, causing the latter to stiffen in place.
Rita grumbled, brushing away the warm sensation bubbling in her stomach as she resumed her work.
With nothing else to do, Judith peered over her shoulder, taking notice of Yuri who seemed to be cradling the sleeping pink-haired woman in his arms.
Smiling, she approached him, though pausing halfway to retrieve the green book laid on the bloodied flooring.
"She's worn herself out, hasn't she?" She noted, emitting a pleasant smile. "Funny, how the first time I met her, she was sleeping soundly. Second time in and she's still sleeping."
"Can't blame her. She went through a lot," Yuri explained, eyeing the dried blood adorning her civilian clothes. Sighing, he carefully shifted her form with his dominant left hand gently cradling the crown of her head. Gradually, he rose, lifting the pink-haired woman off her feet.
Instinctively, Estelle rested her head against the crook of his neck, mumbled a few words too quiet to decipher before resuming with her sleeping.
"What are you planning to do from here on out?" Judith asked him.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Yuri thought for a moment. After a long silence, he spoke up.
"We were supposed to go to Dahngrest…" He trailed off, exhausted. "But since the train isn't up and running, guess we'll have to reschedule the trip another day."
Judith pursed her lips. "You know, I could make an exception," She pointed out.
Blinking, Yuri shot her a weird look. "Really? You can?"
Judith simply chuckled. "Come on, don't tell me you've already forgotten?"
Walking over to the large gaping hole on the other side of the engine room, she proceeded to bring two fingers close to her mouth, releasing a high-pitched whistle.
Aaaand that's the end of chapter 6!
Hello, everyone! This is Kroissant!
Here, we are officially introduced to Zagi, then the twins—Droite and Gauche, and finally, Ba'ul in the skies! (an explanation behind his existence will appear soon, along with an explanation as to why Judith can perform Artes and not Yuri).
Next chapter—Ioder-centric, followed by new two characters!
I'll give you readers a hint: bag and boomerang(?)
And as implied at the end of the chapter—Dahngrest will be our temporarily stop for our main cast—lounge, explore the lore behind the champions and bonding time~
I honestly had a difficult time writing the battle scenes as in this particular chapter, I had to focus not three, not four—but almost six at once: Yuri and Judith VS Zagi, Estelle and Rita VS Droite and Gauche…
(and so, I researched diligently for the main four's distinctive battle Artes, how they move, attack, evade, defense, etc.) Looking back, I'm proud to say that my efforts were worth it!
Also, I would like to apologize for my lateness on this fanfiction – I've been concentrating my efforts to write SoSN (added 2 new chapters for those interested) but now that I'm temporarily finished with the latter, it's time to focus my attention on Checkmate!
Luckily, I'm too excited to know what's in store for the characters which mean that the next update is definitely going to be chapter 7 of checkmate (next week, day, in particular, is up in the air).
Thank you again for your lovely comments (and kudos for those in Ao3 community)
That's all for now!
Have a happy new year, everyone! (despite how severely late that phrase is!)
And I'll see you later!
P.S. Suggested songs
Fate/Zero - Point Zero
Fate/Apocrypha – Battle theme (Y+J VS. Z)
Hiroyuki Sawano – Battle Continues 'Suite' – OVERALL CHAPTER FEELS