Andrew sat in the chair beside Kiyohime's bed, as he watched the Berserker's sleeping form. The dragon girl had stopped muttering and was now just quietly sleeping on the bed in the Med Bay.

Both Dr. Roman and Da Vinci had checked on the Servant and had arrived at the conclusion that Andrew's confrontation about her Madness had caused a Mental Breakdown and for her mind to preserve itself she had forcefully gone into a coma.

They had said they couldn't do anything to wake her, and that it would just be best to wait out and let Kiyohime deal with her internal turmoil.

Andrew was internally berating himself over for what had happened. His outburst was nothing new; he had a tendency to speak without thought when upset. But he'd always been able to make up for it afterward. This… Andrew didn't know how to deal with this. He'd never put someone into a coma. He made a child have a mental breakdown.

Andrew wished it had been someone else who saved Mash and become Chaldea's Master.

"Senpai it's getting late now, you should go to bed, there isn't anything that you can do about this," Mash said sorrowfully from behind Andrew. He felt her hand touch his shoulder.

Andrew shook his head. "I can't. She's...she's just a kid, Mash. And I did this to her. I need to stay here in case she wakes up." Andrew said, 'so I can beg for forgiveness' going unsaid.

"If that's what you wish to do Senpai, but have you gotten anything to eat yet? Do you want me to bring some soup to you?" She asked.

"...Sure, Kouhai. That would be nice, thank you." Andrew said.

"Okay, do you want anything specific?"

"Cream of potato, maybe?" Andrew said, unsure.

"Sure thing Senpai I'll bring it up for you." At that Mash left the med bay; half an hour later she came back with a large bowl cream of potato soup for him.

"Here Senpai," Mash said as she put the tray and bowl on the table next to him.

Andrew did his best to smile at her. "Thank you, Kouhai. You should probably follow your own advice and get to bed; it's getting pretty late." He said after seeing the time.

"Yes, that would be a good idea. Talk to you tomorrow Senpai." Mash said heading for the exit to the area.

"Talk to you then." He said as she left.

He watched Kiyohime throughout the night.

Eventually, he ate his dinner and try as he might, sitting in his chair Andrew felt his eyelids close. But they immediately shot open as Andrew felt his ass hit hard ground.

He quickly got his bearings and saw that he was no longer in the med bay, but instead sitting down in the middle of a forest.

Winter trees covered in snow surrounded him.

"What the fuck?" Andrew said. "Wait, actually what the fuck?" He said, looking around to see if there was anything to help him figure why he was suddenly in a wintry forest.

"Senpai where are we?" Andrew heard Mash's voice and turned around to where it had come from, and he saw his Kouhai dressed in her Servant outfit, her massive shield in hand.

"I have no idea Kouhai," Andrew said as he got up and cleared some snow off of himself. "But the last time we were suddenly in a new location without warning, it was the emergency Rayshift. Do you think something like that happened while we were sleeping?"

"I have no idea Senpai, I just woke up here after I went to sleep. I tried to contact the doctor, but all I got was static." She answered.

"Shit. So we have no idea where we are, why or how we're here, and can't contact Chaldea. Shiiit." Andrew groaned before realizing something. "And I can't feel any of the other Servants."

"That's bad Senpai. Should we try and find out where we are?" Mash suggested.

"Yeah, yeah we should...how do we do that?" Andrew asked.

"I think just by walking Senpai, and thanks to my Servant status all my senses are enhanced I can smell food in the wind." informed the Shielder.

"Oh, then we should probably head towards that then," Andrew said. "Lead the way, Kouhai."

"Sure Senpai, this way," Mash said, and the Servant and Master pair walked towards the right of their current position.

Mash followed the scent of food like a bloodhound.

But as they walked Mash spoke up. "Senpai, I forgot to apologize about running from the table this morning."

"There's no need to apologize," Andrew said practically instantly. "In fact, if anything, I'm the one who should be apologizing. In fact, I am, so I'm sorry." Andrew said, leaving out that Mozart should definitely also apologize for the comment later.

"I should have been more mature and not reacted like that, I realize it now that Mozart didn't mean it. And you should definitely not apologize for him Senpai."

Andrew shook his head. "I'm still sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I don't really think about what I say around people I trust." He let out a short, angry chuckle at his own incompetence in handling Kiyohime. "Or when I'm upset."

"You trust me Senpai?"

"Of course," Andrew said with no hesitation. "You've been nothing but kind to me since I met you, and you've been keeping me alive since this mess all started. I trust you with my life because you've more than proven you're able to protect it."

"That's nice to hear Senpai… Hey, seeing a light ahead of us." Mash said and pointed forwards.

Andrew could see it too, light shining through the trees and the smell of cooked meat reaching his nose.

"I see it. We need to be careful; we can't be sure if there's a friend or foe on the other side." Andrew said. "Actually, speaking of, is Fou in your shield?" He asked. The critter seemed to come with them both times they'd Rayshifted so far, so it was probably a good idea to check.

"Right he does like to hide in there. Hello, Fou are you in there." Mash spoke into her shield but pulled her face back. "No, Senpai he isn't this is just the two of us it seems."

"Hmm. With Fou, I guess that's a good thing. Don't want him getting hurt." Andrew said before shaking his head as if to physically clear his thoughts. "Sorry, got off track there. We should check this out."

"Right Senpai. Mash Kyrielight ready for action." She said, and the two moved with what Andrew called quick steps and soon came across what was generating the light.

And it was not something Andrew had expected to see out in the middle of a forest.

"Is that an Inn?" Mash asked before answering her own question. "Yes, it is it says on the sign that is the Hoshi Ryokan Inn. I've read about it, it's Japan's oldest still functioning Inn/hotel, historical documents says it was built in 718 AD." Mash exposited.

"Thank you for the info, Kouhai," Andrew said. He was a tad miffed he was functionally illiterate with all non-English languages, but he was more than fine with being able to understand the verbal parts thanks to Da Vinci's necklace.

"Your welcome Senpai. So should we knock?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. It's an inn, so it's not like they'll turn us away right?" Andrew asked rhetorically.

"I don't think so Senpai, do you want to knock?" She asked.

"Alright, alright, I'll knock." He said as he went up to the door and did just that.

The door opened up, and now Andrew really didn't know what was going on here.

"Ah we got wary travelers, come inside you two." Spoke a much younger looking Kiyohime.

Andrew decided the best thing to do at that moment would probably just roll with it. She didn't seem to recognize him, and with how much younger she looked this had to be her past. Somehow. "T-thank you for your hospitality." He said as he followed her in.

Mash following behind him.

"That has to be my father you have to talk to. He is the one running the Inn for weary travelers like you. I go get him." Kiyohime said as she ran from them and into a side room.

"Senpai was that really Kiyohime?" Mash asked.

"I...think so?" Andrew said. "I kinda thought this might be one of the Servant Dreams at first, but then you're here, and she's directly acknowledging us, so I have no idea what's going on."

"You're right Senpai, this can't be a part of the dream cycle, they just supposed to be able for Master and Servant to share their memories while dreaming. So I have no idea what this is." As Mash finished speaking Kiyohime returned.

"Father is in the middle of finishing doing some accounting, so I'm going to be taking you to your room or do you want dinner first?" She asked.

Andrew glanced over at Mash to see what she wanted to do.

She put her hand her chin and made moved her head down to the side. She closed her eyes and breathed quickly.

At that Andrew got what she meant. "We'll just be going to bed immediately." He answered.

"Okay, one or two bedrooms." The tiny girl asked.

"Two," Andrew responded.

"Okay, just follow me the bedrooms," Kiyohime said.

Andrew nodded, and so he and Mash followed Kiyohime upstairs, where they came to a long hallway.

"Luckily for you, we got two available right next to each other," Kiyohime told them, pointing at two doors that were on their right side.

"Thank you, miss…" Andrew said, cutting himself off at almost referring to her by name.

"My name is Kiyohime, father says I'm the Inn's adorable Mascot." She answered.

"Ah, then thank you, Princess," Andrew said with a bit of a bow. "It is an honor to meet you."

"Your funny, now father says that sleep is important and the moon is rising, so I need to go to bed. There is food in the morning for you, if you pay extra." Kiyohime said.

"Thank you, Princess," Andrew said before having an idea. "Pardon my question, but are we the only guests here tonight?"

"Yes, not a lot come here during the winter." She answered. "So, we get only a few guests."

"Ah, I see," Andrew said. "I assume we will discuss payment with your father in the morning?"

"Yep, so good night to the both of you," Kiyohime said as she went downstairs again.

"Good night, Princess," Andrew said as she left, before turning to Mash. "Kouhai I think I might have an idea about what's going on."

"You do Senpai?" Mash asked.

"Yeah, let's go to one of these rooms, so they're less likely to hear us," Andrew said, before having a realization. "Or we could each go to the rooms we're using and talk with Telepathy."

"That sounds like a good plan Senpai." Mash approved and quickly went into her assigned room.

Andrew followed suit and entered the other room. It was rather plain, with a bedroll, lamp, and a small table.

'Kouhai, can you hear me alright?'

"I can Senpai!"

'Alright, good. So, when I said I had an idea I meant I have a very rough guess as to what's going on.' He paused to find the best way to put it into words. 'I think we might be in Kiyohime's past, or a version of it, around the time Anchin shows up. I don't know how, but it's my best guess.'

"That does sound plausible but, still how did we end up here?" Mash asked.

But before Andrew could say anything more, he heard the sound of wood sliding against wood.

Andrew turned around as it didn't come from the door he had walked through that he had been watching but the wall behind him.

And in the secret door stood Kiyohime looking like when Andrew had met her in France. "Master you need to come quickly before she acts." She spoke quietly.

Andrew sputtered in surprise. "K-Kiyohime? You're okay? And before who acts?" He asked, managing to keep his voice relatively low.

"Not now we need to get Mash before-." Kiyohime's speech was stopped as the sound of wood breaking could be heard as something flew right through the space between him and Kiyohime. A blue polearm stuck on the wall to the right.

"I was so close, so close to having Anchin all for myself finally. The two of us together, us being happy. Me getting to feel him! But then you had to go and interfere." Spoke the voice of Kiyohime not coming from the one in front of him but the one who stood in the broken wall.

Andrew watched as the kid Kiyohime quickly changed form to a more adult look.

The sound of more wood breaking could be heard as Mash crashed through the wall behind Andrew. "Senpai you stopped speaking, and I heard things breaking… Why are there two Kiyohimes?"

"Thief!" The apparently Evil Kiyohime spoke, and her naginata disappeared before it quickly reappeared in her hands.

"Enemy detected Senpai."

Andrew quickly tried using his Stat-o-Vision on the other Kiyohime.

It however only yielded one piece of information.

Noble Phantasm: Dojoji Bell(Anti-Unit): A

That was an Anti-Anchin Noble Phantasm for sure.

"Two Kiyos, the spear one's obsessed and the one behind me is on our side, probably going to have to fight the spear one." Andrew rapidly explained to Mash.

"I hear you Senpai. What is the plan of attack?" Mash asked.

"I kill the both of you Anchin is going to be Mine, MINE! MINE!" The spear-wielding Kiyohime madly shouted.

"No, you won't, your poisonous ideas of love will kill Andrew, he is not Anchin." Said, the saner Kiyohime. Her voice was ice cold.

Andrew almost had a heart attack at that but managed to steel himself. "S-she's right, you know. I'm not Anchin."

"No, you are Anchin, and you're going to be mine!" The Mad Kiyo yelled, and Andrew saw blue fire ignite around her weapon.

"Enemy about to attack, orders Senpai?"

"Do your thing and go on the defensive, Kouhai," Andrew said, motioning at her shield. "Kiyohime, I'm hoping you'll help against your doppelganger?"

"Yes, of course, Master, this sickness has been festering in my heart for too long." She stated and brandished her fan red fire blooming around it.

"Right, then let's deliver the cure!" He said, pointing at the other Kiyohime.

"Argh!" The Mad Kiyo shouted and swiped with her pole sending three blue fireballs lose, but it was quickly countered by Sane Kiyo's own balls of fire as they extinguished each other in the air.

It was there Mash attacked parrying another attack from the spear-wielding KIyohime giving her an opening to slam the side of her shield into Mad Kiyo's head sending the girl flying through the hole, through the wall and into the room in front of them.

It was followed up with Sane Kiyohime launching several fireballs at the temporarily dazed Mad Kiyohime. Yielding screams of pain from her.

Andrew winced at the noise -it was still Kiyohime's voice- but did his best to ignore it. "Kiyohime, keep shooting as many of those as you can while its down."

"Yes, Master." She responded and quickly began flipping her fan around, and Andrew saw a much larger ball of fire appear in front of her that continued to grow.

"I won't lose! I will never disappear for I am the Shadow the True Self!" At that Andrew could feel the integrity of the Inn begin to shake violently like an earthquake was happening. Unfortunately due to that Sane Kiyohime lost her concentration and the attack she had been preparing dissipated.

"If I can't have you no one shall now we all die together! Dojoji Bell!" Mad Kiyohime shouted and as she did Andrew saw her stand back up, her entire body severely scarred with burns. Though due to that she had lost her clothes.

Andrew heard the sound of a bell ringing.

"Mash Noble Phantasm now!" Andrew said hurriedly.

"That won't work I've summoned the Bell around the entire Inn, you won't be able to escape we shall burn together Anchin." Mad Kiyohime shouted.

"Not if you die first." Sane Kiyohime said. "Samadhi!" She said, unleashing her Noble Phantasm. "I am Andrew's guardian dragon I will always protect him, even from myself." Her body changed into that of a snake-like dragon covered in red fire.

And within a second the transformed Kiyohime launched herself at the insanely laughing Kiyohime.

And the both of them went through the floor as they collided.

"Kiyohime!" Andrew said as he ran over to the hole, avoiding the fire, and looking down through to see what was happening.

A sigh of relief went through him as he saw it was the Sane Kiyohime still standing, smiling up at him. Though the image was a bit disturbing with the fire that surrounded her.

"Oh thank god. Kiyohime are you okay?" Andrew said down to her through the hole. "You beat it right?"

"I'm fine Andrew, and yes I burned her to a crisp." She answered. "Now you two meet me outside the Inn I have something to give you Master."

"Right, we'll meet you outside," Andrew said before turning around to Mash. "I think we're going to have to take the Emergency Exit," Andrew said, motioning at the growing fire now behind him.

"Ah, I get it Senpai," Mash said as she was still standing in the room he had entered. With a quick movement, she hit the wall breaking it into pieces revealing the darkness of the outside, and the snow-covered trees.

Andrew ran over to Mash, and she took him in the now standard bridal carry she used to cart him around.

She jumped out of her created hole and landed in the snow.

Andrew left her arms, and the two came face to face with Kiyohime.

"I am so, so sorry Kiyohime. I have no excuse for what I said." Andrew said to Kiyohime, his head bowed.

"Please don't Master, I needed to hear those words, and I needed this to happen. I have never felt as good as I do now. But there is still one more thing that needs to be done." She said.

"Which is…?" Andrew said worriedly.

"Is for you to take this." She held out her hands which Andrew saw held an orange bell. "This is the twisted desires of my heart take it, Master. For when you wake it shall be gone." She spoke.

Andrew took the bell very carefully. The symbolism wasn't lost on him. "...I don't know what to say, Kiyohime."

But before she answered, Andrew's eyes opened, and he found himself sitting straight up in his bed. But before he could think of anything he noticed he was holding something in his hand. As he took it out from beneath the cover, he saw that it was an orange bell.

The thing lit up, and suddenly he was holding a Saint Quartz in its place.

His heart dropped. He burst from his bed, ignoring how he had been there in the first place, and made to run to the med bay, but as he was about to leave his room the door opened, and he collided head first with Kiyohime.

The sound of metal could be heard hitting the ground. Along with glass shattering.

"Kiyohime!" Andrew said once he his brain caught up with the rest of him. "Are you okay?"

"Ahh, good morning Master, I'm okay, but I can't say the same about your breakfast." She complained, and Andrew took notice of the tray laying on the floor along with broken glass and spilled juice, with what looked to be the stereotypical American Breakfast.

"O-oh, sorry about that," Andrew said before holding up the Quartz in his hand. "When I woke up, the Bell turned into a Quartz and I kind of panicked."

"Bell? What are you talking about Master?" Kiyohime asked.

"The bell that you handed me after you beat the other you?" Andrew asked, confused. Did she not remember?

"You must have had one crazy dream Andrew, now I need to clean this up. I wanted to surprise you with breakfast on the bed, that Mash had suggested to me." Kiyohime said. "Actually Mash asked the same thing did you two have a shared dream or something. I heard that Master and Servants with a close bond can have those. But one thing is for certain I feel better than I did yesterday when I collapsed. Thanks for telling me truth Master, it's like all my Madness is gone." She said happily.

At that, Andrew used his Stat-o-Vision on Kiyohime to see if that was true.

[spoiler=Kiyohime's Stat Sheet]

True Name: Kiyohime

Class: Lancer

Master: Andrew Murphy

Parameters:

Strength: D

Endurance: D

Agility: B

Mana: B

Luck: A+

Noble Phantasm: EX

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance: C

Personal Skills:

Shapeshifting: C

Guardian Bell: A

Dragon Breath(Flames): A

Noble Phantasm:

Samadhi Naginata: Polearm Transformed Through Flames(Anti-Army): EX

[/spoiler]

"What," Andrew said flatly. "You're a Lancer now?"

"Ehh?" Kiyohime made the surprise noise. "Really?... Oh, wow I am, how did that happen?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure it has to do with this-." He held up the bell-turned-quartz again "-and the 'dream' Mash and I had that it came from. I think we need to see the Doc about this."

"That seems like a good idea, Andrew."

"...Wow, that is a lot weirder than I thought it would be."

"What is?" She asked.

"My name. You're actually using my name." Andrew said. "Part of why I was so upset at being called 'Anchin' before was because people have this weird tendency to call me anything but my name." He shook his head. "But it's almost weirder to hear you using my name proper."

"I am?" At that, Andrew saw the metaphorical light bulb appear over Kiyohime's head. "I said, your name Master. By Amaterasu's flaming tits I can say your name now. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. It sounds sweet to say. Much better to say that Anchin is. Now should we go speak to the doctor?"

"Y-yeah let's go do that," Andrew said, caught off guard by the 'profanity,' "But you should watch your tongue. That's no way for a Princess to be speaking."

"Pffth." She blew a raspberry at him. "As if I care about that, I can speak however like to, you aren't my dad. I'm not a princess, I'm a badass bonafide dragon. I can do whatever I want."

Oh, god. She had turned into a teenager.

"I may not be your father, but I am your Master." He said half-jokingly. "And who said that the dragon can't be a princess?"

"Princesses are useless damsels that get kidnapped all the time and have to be saved. Dragon's don't need any hero to save them, but they would like a friend to help them." She said.

"You just need to look at Lily to know that's not true about Princesses," Andrew said as finally got up, offering a hand to Kiyohime.

Kiyohime took it, and Andrew pulled her up from the ground. "Nah, she's more badass warrior queen, in training at least. And besides, I wouldn't talk bad about a fellow dragon. Except for Liz cause she's a fake."

Andrew shook his head. "You just said yourself that Lily, who calls herself a Princess, is also a dragon, but whatever." He then realized something. "Wait, why was I in my room? I fell asleep in the Med Bay."

"Oh I carried you, Andrew, I saw you sitting in the chair sleeping like a baby when I woke up. So, I decided to tuck you in. Though I didn't take your clothes off so they might be a bit smelly of sweat now."

"That was nice of you for doing that, thank you," Andrew said, ignoring the comment. "I'll deal with that once we talk to the Doc. Let's go."

"Right, but first could you help me clean this up." Kiyohime pointed at the ruined breakfast.

"Sure."

Xxx

"So, Andrew, Kiyohime what can I help you to with this fine morning?" Dr. Roman asked from where he was leaning against one of Da Vinci's workbenches.

As the map had said, he was currently down there with the Caster.

"Well, Kiyohime is awake, and a Lancer, and I have a Saint Quartz made from her old Mad Enhancement, which was given to me by her in a dream as a bell after she killed the personification of said Madness alongside Mash." Andrew summarized, holding up the Quartz as proof.

"..." Roman reached behind him took a sip of his coffee, placed the cup back down on the table. "Excuse me what? I think my hearing might be failing but you just sad that Kiyohime is a Lancer now and you somehow traveled into her dreams with Mash."

"No, you got it exactly right."

"Okay, first of to change the Saint Graph of an already summoned Servant to another Class, is technically possible. But what you said about the dream should be impossible. Sure there is the dream cycle, but that is a sharing of memories. I have no clue about how you did something that quite literally should not be possible for a person of your skill level. And I'm just talking about the Class change, not the second part."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know less about what the 'how' of what happened than you do, but I'm pretty sure Kiyohime has a Naginata that she didn't have before as proof," Andrew said, motioning to the Lancer in question.

Kiyohime nodded and held out her hand a second later the polearm the Mad Kiyohime had used appeared in her hand just a red color instead.

"Right, just a moment." Roman held up his armband and pressed brought the hologram display, and seconds later a blue beam went up and down Kiyohime. It looked that scanner light one saw in sci-fi movies. "Right, there is nothing wrong with Kiyohime, her spiritual existence is completely stable. So, it is okay for her to partake in the next Order. Now excuse, I'm way too sober for this." Roman said as he walked straight past the pair and out of the Workshop.

"Well, that happened," Kiyohime stated.

xxx

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