Alex panted heavily as he leaned on his knees, and sweat streamed down his face and dampened his shirt. Rider was in a similar, though not near so severe a state, his bow in hand and arrow cocked back in the string. His hat with the face of a cute, cartoonish cat and long tassels tipped with little fuzz balls dangling from the sides was tiled off center, and the fabric of his light grey t-shirt stained dark with perspiration.
Rider leaned against the wall of the alley. His feet and legs were about to kill him, but he couldn't give in to that pain if he and his Master were to survive, though he was feeling like a rather inferior Servant at the time. Taking his walking cane, he heaved himself off the wall and put his weight on it instead before beckoning his master around yet another corner.
Neither of them had an exact clue as to what the heck those weird things had been. Most were huge, though they seemed to have familiars that were a little taller than the average person, and far scarier. Each one, despite having a soft light emanating from them, gave off an air of all sorts of negative emotions- from rage and hate, worthy of causing countless foul curses to be spouted, to the deepest and most hurtful despair and sorrow.
They all took the form of thin, monk-like people, their forms covered by a single robe, and their faces looking as though they had been censored or something to the nature of. They never walked, but rather floated over the ground, the tattered ends of their garbs breaking away into grainy oblivion as they moved.
And that was what they saw when they turned the corner. It was hardly a second until they high-tailed it the other way, where they were again cut off. There was no way for Rider to summon his chariot- the space was far too small, and what would happen if they ran through the beasts? Being anywhere near them made him feel as though there would be nothing left in the world but sorrow and hate, and if he got any closer, he didn't think he could stand it. There was no telling.
The hopelessness was suffocating. Standing back to back, neither of they young men knew what to do. Rider fired arrows at the beasts, but the projectiles simply passed them through. Alex was shooting whatever attack spells he knew, and while they would temporarily keep them at bay, they would be useless in the long run.
Resistance is futile, Alex quoted in his head, the mental voice being that of the Borg. Thanks a lot, Star Trek...
It hadn't been up until this point that Alex realized just how much he appreciated life. This was his end. There would be nothing else. This was it, wasn't it? He wouldn't see his dad again. Or his mom. He wouldn't get married, have kids, etcetera. These were his only thoughts as his spells made the ghoul writhe for a moment, then it continued its advance towards him and his companion.
He wasn't sure that his dad would be able to take it. What would happen to him if he died? Perhaps he could handle it, then again maybe he couldn't. He didn't know…
All of this came in a moment that lasted forever but left in a flash, and before the dark emotions choking him could drive him deeper into that fear, he witnessed what he could swear had to have been a miracle.
"Gate of Babylon!" a man's voice roared from overhead, and a full arsenal of shimmering weapons from ever age and place rained down on the monsters. He and Rider coughed as the dust cleared, and they cringed from the horrific screeches and wails the familiars of the great ghosts made.
The things stumbled back a bit, still writhing from the weapons that had imbedded themselves into their forms. Alex and his companion looked up to where the voice had shouted from, though he already knew who it was-the shouting of that Noble Phantasm was unmistakable. The shinny gold armor and spiky hair were also dead give-aways.
"Daijobu!" came a voice from the feminine figure that was at the Babylonian King's side, her hand holding out an egg shaped emerald gemstone that gave off a serene glow.
She leapt from the roof, and her high-top Converse transformed into brown leather boots, her black thigh highs flashing away into leggings strapped to an under-belt, which were open at the inner thighs, and tapering off into the shape of a maple leaf before being clasped beneath her skirt, which was two layers. The bottom one was a lighter golden green than the top, which was a nearly black forest green. The top layer was attached to her corset of the same color, and her scoop neck had one long sleeve and one short, both fine and flowing, rippling with the air as she descended. Her gemstone had disappeared from her hands, and reappeared in the form of a five pointed leaf on a necklace. A maple green glove covered her right hand, and an arm warmer of similar pattern and color on her left.
Her brown hair was French braided on both sides of her head, meeting in the back in a bun, with lusciously curled locks hanging from it that extended no farther than the nape of her neck. The strands framing her face were also curled, and her eyes looked like the sun shinning through the most lively of green leaves. They shinned almost gold as a spear that she held, it's a-symmetrical head rather large, impaled itself into one of the wraiths.
It evaporated into nothingness, and she went to work on the rest of the familiars. Her lance cut through them like a hot knife through butter, and Gil only had to fire but a few more weapons at the beasts before they were gone.
"Well, that takes care of those," Emily remarked, turning to the two young men.
Alex and Rider's mouths were agape.
Alex knew this girl! Somewhere recently, and she was rather important. It took him a moment longer than it should have to put two and two together-This girl, judging by her accent, was clearly American, and was in possession of one of the most powerful Servants recorded.
"Y-You're that girl from the plane!" The words came flying out of his mouth, and she gave him a squinted look as she tilted her head at him, she, too, trying to remember from where exactly they had met.
"Yeah, yeah, you're that guy-"
"And you have him and you like Doctor Who-"
"Yeah man!" Her movements were crazy and erratic, with her arm flailing about like a worm or something of the sort, and she was halfway bouncing when she talked. "Small world, eh?" was all she could really say after a long and awkward silence.
Alex, after such an adrenaline rush of a rather unpleasant kind, couldn't help but double over in laughter. Gil was still on the top of the building, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"Uh, what just happened?" Rider asked, he too, letting chuckles of relief stutter his question. He had no idea how people could possibly communicate with so few and obscure words.
"I dunno, you tell me," Gil tilted his head in a strange distaste for the boredom that had ensued.
"So, uuum, yeah. Hi," she said, waving her hand as though the limb wasn't functioning correctly.
"Hi," Alex responded, waving his hand slightly, still giving her a strange look. She looked so much different than he remembered. He could have sworn that her hair had been straight and that it had been in a clipped-up ponytail. As for her clothes, she was wearing something that looked like a Renaissance themed Halloween costume, though a good one at that. As for that spear- let's just say he wouldn't want to make her mad.
"And hey to you too, man." She threw a nod towards Rider, whose mouth had not been shut since she had landed with her lance in the familiar. "Woa, I like your hat. That's a cute hat, man."
Rider's jaws finally met, and one of his hands went directly to the sack of cloth in the shape of a cat that covered his bald head-he had found that it was unstylish to be so now a days, thus had gotten the cap to appear less strange.
Another ghostly howl sounded from a nearby street, a sound that the girl-he couldn't remember her name to save the life of him- was obviously in tuned to.
"Well, I don't think this'll be the last time we meet, so adios!" She turned to leap up and away, but Alex stopped her.
"Wait a moment- What are those things and why did they attack us!?"
She stopped, and turned to face him yet again. "Look, I don't have much time dude, so here's the basic run-down. Those things are called Wraiths and are the embodiment of all of mankind's curses and sorrows. As to how you can even see them, I don't have a clue, and neither do I know why they're attacking you- though they do randomize victims. Just steer clear of town and you should be fine-"
"But I live in town!" He slumped, and Emily found it obvious that he was begging for an escort for safety. Apparently his Servant wasn't enough. Then again, the only reason Gil was even capable of helping with the nightly rounds was because she had secretly embedded all of his weapons with a spell that allowed them to function on the place between planes that the Wraiths functioned on. She had to do it without Gil's knowing, otherwise he would have thrown some conniption fit. That had been one complicated spell that she had managed to conjure up herself, so she wasn't surprised that this guy's Servant wouldn't have much of a chance if caught by one of those nasty suckers.
She sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll take you home, but it'll be a rough ride. There are an awful lot of these things out tonight."
"I wouldn't lead those mongrels through a sea of flowers if they asked me to," Gil sneered from above.
"Yeah, but that's just because you refuse to admit that you're gay," Emily contradicted.
"Wha- I am not gay!" Gil was becoming furious, but Emily didn't really care. She had figured out that the worst he could do was throw a verbal hissy fit that was half-way a lecture about how he was king of the world and she was just some peasant, and where every other word was "mongrel."
"Okay then, you're bi. It's okay man, it's not like we discriminate-"
"Am not! Mongrel, learn your pla-"
"Dude, it's perfectly fine to admit it! Besides, we all know that you loved your little Kidu-kun-"
Gil shook his head. "Okay, don't call him that."
"Aw, why not? It's cute-"
"Just don't."
Emily puffed up and said, "I will!"
She had a fair amount of satisfaction from seeing him roll his eyes and scowl a bit, though her glimpse was short lived. One never wanted to make it apparent that they were victorious in a battle of witty insults- if you did, it lowered the opponents view of you. It was better to act like you didn't care, because it always makes it seem as though you're capable of so much more.
"Oh yeah," she said to Alex. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet." She held out her gloved hand. "Emily Serena Bradford."
Alex took a moment before responding, "Alex Velvet Archibald," and he, too, extended his hand, and they shook. That is, before Emily snorted a laugh.
"What's so funny?" He tilted his head at her.
"Just- Your dad is awesome-hahaha!"
"What-Why all of a sudden is he just awesome?" He was shrugging in confusion, in the way that kept your shoulders plastered to the side of his face.
"Dude, your name is so fitting! And cool! It's such an ordinary name usually, but then he's just like 'Ooooh no-no-no, I'm not naming my son after any old Alexander muahaha' and stuff!"
Alex couldn't help but let out an involuntary snort of fondness, what with how she worded things so childishly. He could tell it was merely because she was excited, and it was late, and as everyone knows a lack of sleep can drive one to behave irrationally, and a bit like the world had gone to crack. At least, that's how it had all been when he had been younger. He had gotten used to nearly normal functions on sleep deprivation while having to take his own father's classes, along with countless others.
"Anyways!" the girl cried, spinning dramatically towards the road. "Allons-y!" Her finger was pointing in the general direction of their course, until she stopped for a moment. "Uh, wait a second…" She turned back to Alex and Rider. "I guess you guys should lead the way, seeing as how I have no clue as to what direction you guys live in." She bowed, and gestured for them to go ahead of her.
