Okay, first of all, I'm sorry for the late update. I'm not going to make any excuses or promises this time I just hope you're understanding. As far as the story goes this chapter is the first one that I have decided to break up into multiple parts because there was now way I could cover everything in one chapter. The second thing I want to draw attention to is the fact that I am experimenting with my writing for most of this chapter, so I would really appreciate comments on my writing style. Without further ado, in this chapter we are returning to Richard shortly after he got home from the coffee house meeting with Himiko.

Richard sat in a simple black folding chair and stared blankly at a clock hanging on his wall. It was almost 10:00 pm but Richard didn't feel like standing up quite yet. The room was almost completely silent with the only noise being the ticking of that same clock. Richard found himself looking around the room that he had been living in for two days now. He finally noticed that the walls were painted a faint cream colour; weirdly he hadn't noticed the walls sooner. Glancing up at the clock, Richard watched as it ticked slowly to 10:00. Even after 10:00 had come and gone Richard still just sat, waiting for nothing.

Richard sat thinking about all the productive things that he could have been doing all day. His original plan had been to scout out the city for a few hours in the morning and after that he was going to practice his magecraft for a few hours before taking a short nap, then he would start scouting the city at 10:00 pm looking for other masters and servants.

The first thing that went wrong with that was bumping into Himiko in the morning. Not only did he lose half an hour just talking to her but in hindsight, it's what lead to his current situation. As far as Richard was concerned the meeting with Himiko had gone well—or at least as well as the meeting could have gone. He managed to learn some valuable information and more importantly he honestly enjoyed himself which was unfortunately strange for him.

After the meeting, he tried to explore the city to map out landmarks and strategically important locations. But instead he ended up wandering aimlessly for almost a full hour before giving up and going home. No matter how hard he tried to focus he felt distracted.

After he got back he tried practicing magic; which usually helped clear his mind. Before Richard had entered the Holy Grail War he was trying to teach himself Flash Air. Flash Air is a displacement magecraft that allows the user to connect two points in space; a basic application of flash air is to use it as a form of teleportation. The user can connect a point on a wall to an area behind a locked door and then walk through the wall to reach the area behind the door. The second basic use of flash air—and the one that Richard was most interested in—is that you can use Flash Air to redirect attacks by connecting the area in front of you to another space causing any projectile to enter the first space and leave the second without touching the user.

To practice this Richard had three sharp pencils that he held over his hand. He would connect the air above his hand with the air below it so that when he dropped the pencils they would pass his hand without stabbing him. Usually whenever Richard did this, he successfully redirected one of three pencils.

Unfortunately, today was not normal. When Richard dropped the first pencil it fell and stabbed his hand, undaunted he dropped the second pencil which also pricked him; when he dropped the third pencil it also fell and hit his hand. It was weird for all three to hit him but it wasn't the first time that had happened so he tried again; just like the first time all three hit him. He tried again and again for almost an hour and every single pencil hit him. The hour had passed Richard gave up without succeeding once.

Richard paced around the house frustrated for a few minutes. Eventually, he decided to take a nap and sleep off whatever had him in such a strange mood. After lying in his bead staring at the white painted roof for a few minutes he decided he wasn't going to fall asleep very quickly, so he pulled his phone from out of his pocket. When he looked at it he saw that he had one new message from an unknown number. When he unlocked his phone and looked the message is said,

Hi Richard, this is Himiko, I'm

Just messaging you to confirm

that this is your number. Please

reply if this is you.

Richard stared at the simple message for what felt like forever thinking to himself. Richard read the message through again trying to figure out if there was a hidden meaning behind it. He shook his head; it was silly for him to think there was some hidden message, and started typing a reply.

Yes, it's me.

Richard found himself starting at the three words he had typed. He felt like he should keep typing but he deleted whatever he wrote past those three words. Eventually, he gave up and just sent the message. Richard put his phone on a small glass coffee table that was beside his bed. A few seconds later the phone buzzed; Richard quickly snatched it and read the message.

Okay, thanks.

Richard groaned he wasn't sure how he was supposed to reply to that or if he was supposed to reply at all. Eventually, he gave up and put the phone back down. He was not in the mood to deal with any of his problems right now.

After that Richard did nothing all day, he went back in forth between fruitlessly practicing magic, to napping, to chatting idly with Archer. Until he found himself sitting in his chair staring at the clock that was now a little past 10:15. Archer was standing across the room a little over ten feet away from him. After a few seconds, Archer spoke. "Are you done moping around or should I gave you more time?"

Richard shot him a dirty look, "Didn't you mope on an island for seven years?" Archer didn't dignify that with a response. After one final groan Richard finally faced his responsibilities and stood up. He turned to his side and grabbed his phone, after looking at it he realized he had missed a message from Himiko at 8:00,

Can we please meet up tonight?

There is something I want to talk

To you about and it would be hard

To Say it through text.

Do you mind meeting me by

the Coffee shop at 10:30?

Richard cursed to himself and looked at the clock, 10:15. He sent a quick reply to Himiko and started walking towards the coffee shop to meet her.

The moment Richard stepped outside he noticed that it was snowing. The snow was fluttering down with a light breeze that sent the snow winding spiraling down the streets of Litchhurst. Although it was dark outside the streets were warmly lit by streetlights. After stepping out onto the quiet street, Richard began walking slowly. He didn't have a lot of time, but something about the atmosphere of this street made him want to savor the moment.

As Richard walked, he found himself wondering what Himiko wanted to talk about. Despite his situation; despite the holy grail war, Richard was excited for this meeting; despite the fact that part of him knew that it probably wasn't going to go well. He pulled out his phone and reread Himiko's last message; he knew what it said but he found himself reading it a few times.

As Richard rounded the corner he felt disappointed. Part of him didn't want that moment to end; he just wanted to walk forever without worrying about what was coming up next.

Finally, the coffee shop came into view. All the lights were still on inside and the small building was full of people. Richard didn't care about the store. He instantly turned his attention to the patio. Once again there was only a single person on the patio; once again the first thing Richard noticed was the now-familiar white and red kimono.

Once she saw him Himiko stood up and left the patio to meet him. Richard stood perfectly still and waited for her. She walked slowly towards him; she was taking her time. Richard had a hard time trying to guess what she was thinking; he knew that she was almost impossible to read but it was fun to try. She spoke, "You're late."

Without answering her Richard pulled out his phone to check the time; it was 10:32, maybe he should have walked a little faster, "you're right, I am a little bit late."

She stared straight at him for a couple seconds that felt like full minutes. Eventually, she rolled her eyes and continued speaking, "Come with me, as I said in my last text I need to talk to you but we need some privacy first."

Himiko led Richard through a part of the city that he had never visited before. It was obvious that was one of the oldest parts of the city. The buildings were short and made of large stone that ranged in colour from deep brown to light grey. Black iron light posts dotted the street casting a warm light for all to see. The sidewalk they were walking on was covered by a fresh layer of fluffy snow that was still falling calmly.

Richard glanced over at Himiko who was walking beside him. She was looking around at the beautiful landscape that stretched out in front of them. He noticed that a few snowflakes had fallen into her raven black hair. The snowflakes kept their shape perfectly and sat calmly.

Although part of Richard wanted that silence to last forever he knew that Himiko wanted to meet up with him for a reason. After stealing a few more moments Richard spoke, "Now that we're alone what did you want to talk to me about?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and waited a second. After sighing she spoke, "I wanted to know what you've learned about other masters."

Richard thought about that for a second; he decided to tell the truth even though his answer was probably going to disappoint her, "You're the only master that I have met or even heard about. I couldn't even guess the identity of any other masters."

"That's, unfortunate" she replied, "I met one other person, and that person warned me about a different person."

"What do you mean"

"A man came up to me and introduced himself as a master. After that he gave me a vague warning about the presence of a dangerous master."

"Dangerous?"

"The master told me that there are a few masters in this war that will do a lot of harm if they were to win the grail and have their wish granted. He told me the name of one of those masters and that no matter what I do I should avoid that evil master at all costs.

"What was the name?"

"The master I spoke with was named Seymour Nightingale. And he warned me about was a man by the name of Zayid Solomon."

That name hung in the frigid air for a few moments. After a short while, Richard spoke, "Do you think you can trust this Seymour Nightingale?"

"I don't know, he seemed to be a very straightforward person, but I only had a short conversation with him, so it's hard to know everything for sure."

"It sounds like Seymour is probably just using people to eliminate other masters while he pretends to be working for the greater good. Everyone in this war has a wish that they want the grail to grant. No one is in this for the greater good; that just doesn't happen."

"Are you always such an asshole?" Himiko snapped, after that she quickly took her practiced deep breath and continued talking in her formal tone," What I mean by that is why do you just assume everyone is as selfish as you are." She paused again; realizing that what she said wasn't much better. After taking a second to fully compose herself she finished speaking, "Just because everyone you've met have been selfish jerks doesn't mean that everyone you're going to meet is that same way. There are people that care about you; I promise."

Richard just stood and stared at her. Eventually, he decided that the best thing to do was switch to small talk, "If you don't mind me asking, what are your plans for tonight?"

"I planned on walking around the streets and trying to find out as much as I can about other masters. You're welcome to join me if you'd like."

So much of Richard wanted to go with her; to just be around her. Deep down he knew that going with her wasn't a real option. He knew that she wanted to win this war as much as he did and that no matter how much he wanted to he can't trust her. Despite that he was still debating going with her, he wanted to go with her. Eventually, he spoke, "No I'm fine, I'll probably just go home. I don't really have anything specific I want to do tonight."

The expression on Himiko's face changed suddenly but very quickly snapped back to normal. Richard could only guess what she was thinking but before he gave it too much thought she spoke, "I understand. Goodbye Richard."

And with that Himiko turned and walked away. In a few long moments, she was out of Richard's sight. He stood there for what felt like forever. He knew that his perfect moment was going to end eventually but now that it was gone he missed it so much more than he had enjoyed it.

Richard turned around and started to walk home; the only sound was the frigid wind howling and sending a chill down his spine.

Hello again, so like I wrote in the opening comments this chapter is one not really complete, this is part one No More Parades which will be a three-part chapter. On a positive note NaNoWriMo 2017 has just begun so I Plan on doing a lot more writing that I have been. But like I said at the top I don't really feel comfortable promising anything at this point. See you next time for No More Parades part 2.