Chapter 5: Under the Radar
The old catacomb was tight, which made the smell of rotting people even more unbearable. The only entertainment in this dark place was a letter writer, old bones, and a small fire. The knight sat with her master, waiting for the sun to set so they could have some action.
The phone rang and the young knight grabbed it before her master could move his hand.
"Who is this?" Saber demanded to know, looking at the phone, but it only continued ringing. Kairi sighed, knowing who it was and picked up the call.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Kairi, it's Lord El-Melloi II." His voice was dull but Kairi knew why he was calling.
"Oh joy. You're checking on your lady?"
"Excuse me?"
Kairi chuckled. "My, everyone jokes about it. She's the only thing that makes you smile, right?"
"Hazel's not my girlfriend, she's a dear colleague." Lord El-Melloi II scoffed, but he was calling to ensure she reached Romania safely, and Kairi was his only resource.
"Damn, you're moody. I haven't talked with her since Clock Tower." Kairi said.
Lord El-Melloi II was concerned. If Hazel had not found Kairi then she may be in danger. He trusted her for the most part, but with no correspondence from the other mages they would not know about her mission, and eliminate her as quickly as possible.
Kairi sighed. He knew the professor was just looking out for her, and could sense the concern in his silence.
"Look, Fox won't find me until she needs something. Spies are everywhere, have to be careful not to insight suspicion." There was a pause as the professor forced himself to accept that truth. What happened now was out of his hands.
"That's true. I'll let you know if there are any updates." Lord El-Melloi II said. "Just make sure she doesn't do anything reckless?"
"Can't promise that."
"Well make a damn effort!" He hung up, frustrated that he didn't have a decisive answer.
"Who the hell is this Fox person, Master?" Saber remarked, tossing a skull in the air like a basketball.
"Someone I used to run into on missions. She's one of the few mages I can stand, before she became a teacher."
"She become a bitch?" Saber questioned, catching the skull.
Kairi shrugged. "Just matured a little quickly. She doesn't want anything from this war except to complete her mission and to see it end." Saber continued to play with the skull, this person sounded like a bore, but unfortunately talking to her master was an easy form of entertainment.
"Who would enter a war like this and not have a wish?"
"Someone who just wants to fight and enjoy it." he said and his servant jumped from the ground, now face to face with her master.
"Well our goals come before your precious fox chick, so don't even think about giving her the Holy Grail.-"
"Now why would I?"
"-I don't know, just don't want you getting any ideas." Saber said, crossing her arms and pouting in frustration.
"Why wasn't she a Master of Red in the first place?" she asked.
"Her father screwed up her chances to be one." Saber rose an eyebrow to that. Kairi felt there was nothing to hide being they were already talking about her. After their encounter at the Church, he didn't mind telling Saber about opponents he knew of. He began carving a piece of bone nearby, just to make the time move faster.
"Hazel Matterhorn, her code name is the Golden Fox which is what I call her. Combat mage, talented in blood magic and shields. Her father donated catalysts to the Black Faction and was jailed for treason. She donated the rest of the artifacts to the Mages Association in an effort to sooth tensions; but, shortly after that news broke, her mother and sister were taken to the hospital because of a poisonous spell in their home.-"
"-People, especially the Mages Association, began to think it was best for Fox not to participate in the Great Holy Grail War, even with her experience in battle and faithfulness to them. But that only pissed her off, so now she's out for revenge."
"Master, why are you telling me this?"
Kairi continued to make the spike, and could tell Mordred was uninterested. He knew how Fox used to be. Excited to fight and learn, much like the knight he had summoned. However, he knew if the Black Faction won, Hazel would be blamed and exiled from a community that praised her actions. She would lose either way.
On their last mission, Hazel mentioned all she wanted was to keep a balance between the good and the bad things she had done. Kairi respected that philosophy, but knew in order to do so, he and Saber needed to blast through everyone. He had his own goals, and at least those did not conflict with her simple desire.
Kairi shrugged, "Thought it might be something you could relate to, Saber." Mordred sighed, she had not met this Fox person, and therefore couldn't trust them.
"Just let me know who she is so I don't kill her." Mordred said as her master finished carving the spike. Kairi smiled, knowing that in battle, there was no mistaking the Golden Fox.
"Here." Hazel said, trying to catch her breath. They were on the outskirts of the village of Trifas, in dense woods that made enough cover. Hazel was still limping and sweating from the pain. She fell to the ground.
"You can put your armor on." she said and he obeyed. The spikes began to emerge from his body, shredding the one piece of clothing she gave him. Hazel laid on the ground, gripping the dirt and branches to avoid screaming. The red Runes glowed and he was once again covered in his black skeletal armor. Hazel breathed, it felt good to not conceal his presence, but now she was tired from the mana it took to do so.
They began to walk, but Hazel could tell her leg were numb. They wouldn't make it to the Yggdmillennia fortress until after dark, and by then there were bound to be servants in the woods. She sat down by a tree and Berserker stopped.
"Can you guard?" she asked breaking his thought. He shifted his eyes, their gaze was intense but she took it as a sign not to distract him. Hazel laid down on the hard ground, the grass bent like coarse paper being crumpled.
"I'm going to take a nap." she remarked. Berserker sat beside her, alert as he stared at their surroundings. She closed her eyes, slowly fading away.
As Hazel slept images began to go through her head. The spikes are what stood out to her. Like bones ripped from the earth they distorted the soil. One by one their faces appeared, strung up in this web of murder, none able to escape. Impaled through their chests, some still twitching from the pain. Screaming to be killed, over and over, like an emergency siren. She walked through the clearing, listening to their cries in the moonlight, but one voice rang out.
"Why didn't you come, Hazel?" It was Bazett propped against a tree, impaled through the chest with a spike.
"I'm here now, Baz." she said, invested in this nightmare. One that remained in her mind since she saw the images from that night.
"You're too late, Golden Fox." Another voice stated and others joined in. Screams of pain echoed through the distorted valley. This nightmare was something she did not want. She had to control it somehow.
"They didn't send me." Hazel replied, but the screams only grew louder.
"You chose not to come," one said. "Not to die."
"You could have helped us. You've saved us before." Another rang out.
"No, that's not it. I'll help now. I'll fight." she said frantic, trying to silence them. But the more she tried the closer the spikes came to her. The volume of screams rose, so much so that covering her ears was no use.
"Hazel. Are you one of them?" It was Bazett again. Hazel looked down to see a jacket on her body, one of the Yggdmillennia clan. The voices came to a halt, only sounds of a crow cawing could be heard. When Hazel looked up, she saw Baz, her slit throat, eyes with a bleak grey color. She was dead, they all were. This eerie silence in a field of corpses made Hazel fall to her knees. She waited in the silence glancing at the moon, wondering when this illusion would end.
Suddenly, she heard something twist and faced her friend once more. Bazett's head spun, grinding bone and twisting skin so it would rip. The face morphed into one she would never forget, the face of her last kill.
"Death is death" it said, blood pouring from their neck. "No matter what side, there is only one outcome. Why live? Why fight! No one will be saved in the end!" The voice screamed and she began to feel the spikes surround her.
"No!" she shouted, trying to activate her shield and it wouldn't shape. The spikes began to go through her body, shredding her organs as blood flowed from her mouth. She was suffocating from the lack of air, drowning in her own regret and could not escape. As she looked at the moon, everything began to fade to black as she was forced to accept this end.
She woke in a sweat, gasping for air. Berserker sat closer to her, his legs crossed, unmoved by her panic. There were no scars besides the ones from her shield on her torso, but the reality of the dream made her feel more guilt. The pain her cohorts must have felt was something that she did not want to think of. It just made her more upset with what The Mages Association had done, sending them into a battlefield like this, not anticipating Yggdmillennia would plan for it.
Hazel looked to her servant and realized there was a reason for his detachment. The sun was about to set and there was a faint sense of magical energy. Hazel couldn't tell if they were opposing servants or familiars from Yggdmillennia, but clearly they weren't alone.
This was war, and in battle she only had to worry about her servant. That past which caused his summons was her story. It was best now to put it aside for both their sakes. The more she thought about those images the sooner Darnic would catch onto her. She had a hard time holding in her anger, but she had to be tame. It was the only way to complete this task she was assigned.
"Sorry, just a bad dream." Hazel said stretching, shaking off the nightmare so she could focus on the present. The sun had almost set but they continued to move on. Berserker was staring off into the distance behind them, as though he knew his target. She was glad he did not engage them, and trusted he was smart to wait until they attacked. Her mana had recovered now that she had gotten some sleep. They were ready to go when the time came.
Berserker noticed that he and his master had not eaten. The threat was keeping their distance, and he was concerned for his master's health. She had two bars but that would not be filling. Even for a mad warrior he was protective. He wandered off to find food, but Hazel was not worried. She knew he would find his way back after she left him at the bunker for a day.
She had never eaten much on missions, especially now that she was getting nervous. She was afraid how he would treat her arrival, what the other Masters of Black would think of her. Being someone who worked closely with the Mages Association, she had to make a cover story, twist her words but keep the emotion. She was upset about the fifty mages but wished they would have sent her from the beginning. Also, that they selected other elite mages because they felt she would just betray them. Hazel figured if she could pin fighting for the Black Faction as payback for insulting her loyalty then her story would fit.
Berserker appeared in front of her with a dead rabbit, he held it out hoping she would take and eat it.
"Cú, I'm really not hungry." She turned her back but he was confused. It was a gift, he wanted his Master to be fed. He spun her and dropped the dead rabbit in her hands. Hazel didn't know what to do.
"Look, let's get to the fortress first." she said but he still looked upset. Hazel had hunted before but feared eating raw meat, mostly because that meant the two granola bars would leave her system too. Yet denying food was an insult in his culture, she had to be cooperative.
"One bite, that's it." she stated. He smiled and skinned an area with his hand so she'd know where to bite. It was the thigh, less filled with bone and easy to get at. She paused but he was staring intently until she bit into the corpse. Hazel braced herself and dug her teeth in, hard enough that some blood squirted in her face. At first it was like chewing salt, but when it hit the bottom of her stomach she began to feel it not settle. Her internal shield activated. Though it was meant to ward off light and dark spells that affected the body, sometimes spoiled food, or poisoned drinks, would be a trigger.
She latched onto a tree and began to puke up the meat and the little food she had eaten. Berserker stood by her side. Once she was done she stood up and opened her bag, regretting she had little water in her water bottle. Berserker felt terrible, and steadied his master, gripping her shoulders tightly. She was used to this sick feeling but felt bad he had to see it.
"It's okay Cú. Happens more than you think." she said and they pressed on.
They came to a stream and Hazel washed her bloody face, drinking straight from the flowing water to clear out the salty taste and foul odor. Berserker watched her like this, admiring her attempts to please him. She looked familiar to him in the face, a woman from his past that he wanted to protect, but her personality was something else. Unlike that one, she was adventurous and kind, which were good traits in a partner.
There was a rustle in the trees. Hazel heard Berserker growl, focused on something in the trees. This time the presence was much stronger. Now that the sun had set, they could meet their spies. They were keeping their distance on purpose. She activated her shield as her servant stood close to her.
"Okay," she announced, "How would we like to do this? Introduce ourselves, cut to the fighting? I'm open to options." They waited patiently for a moment and then an arrow came from above. Berserker leapt to dodge it. Hazel projected the shield closer to her body and waited. Another arrow came and the shield protected them. Berserker went in front of his master, posed to strike.
"We've been tracking you all day and you just noticed us?" It was a male voice, cynical in tone.
Hazel chuckled. "You haven't left his sights. But at least you waited until nightfall."
"It's no fun to kill you in your sleep." The male said again. Another arrow fired, and Berserker deflected it.
"Why aren't you revealing yourselves? Afraid I know who you are?"
"Please, we can take you out before you see our faces. It's what our masters' want."
Another volley shot towards them. She saw faint movement in the trees. This Archer was swift, but at this point it would be easier to lure out the second opponent than find the bowman.
"You don't strike me as an Assassin, so why hide?" Hazel asked, hoping to provoke him. "Isn't that what cowards do?" There was a pause and then a big laugh. She prepared for the worst.
"They told us to, but you're right." The voice said. "I like to see my opponent's eyes when they fall."
Green lights cut through the trees like swords. As they fell, Berserker fled piercing them aside with his lance as Hazel remained with her shield up. Even without the shield, the trees seemed to fall out of line with her position. This servant wanted to kill Berserker, but leave her intact.
Once the trees landed away from her, she could see the servant. He had green hair and a long red scarf with heavy armor to cover his calves and heels. Just by that alone she could infer his identity. That somehow the Red Faction had secured the artifact her father had hidden. But why use deadly means to get the catalyst and summon the hero of the Trojan War? Who would do this when she was already on the side of the Mages Association? His presence only rose multiple questions.
"Are you in awe, Ms. Master? You should be." Achilles said with a cunning smile, both sides prepared to fight.