The Perfect

Walking up to the manse was easy, getting past the guards was almost as easy. A lie augmented by the truth. Sakura told the guards how they had been traveling with all of the people around them, the freed slaves. She left it implied that they would swear to the Perfect like the rest of them but she never said it directly so they could deny later.

The guards told them to head to the main chamber and that the next Ritual of Subservience was to be in an hour. The party nodded and walked forwards.

The four of them stepped through the entrance of the Manse and looked at the interior, The walls were seemingly made of marble covered in intricate writing that told of storms. The walls were perfectly straight and it looked like this main corridor led right to the main chamber. There had been no door at the front and as far as they could see there were no doors in the manse either. The whole things was open and they could feel a slight wind blow past them as they walked.

In the main chamber contained a large dais and on top that dais was an empty throne, likely for the Perfect when he arived. The room was crowded with the various people they had brought here, waiting patiently and quietly chatting. A few meters above them were balconies that seemed to allow for someone to look down on this room from above, Sakura quietly pointed out that the shadows up there would be a good place for them to watch the oath taking if they didn't want to be seen.

Behind the throne was a young woman in colourful red and blue clothes taking notes, she seemed to be a court official and her slight build and pale skin seemed to show that she didn't see too much of the south's sun. As the group left through a side passage, Shirou glanced back to her and almost jumped when he saw her eyes fixed right on them. After searching for a staircase up for a few minutes they managed to get onto one of the balconies and with Sakura's direction they slipped into the shadows there.

As Shirou told them of how the court official had seen them leave, Rin looked into the room and saw that the woman was no longer there. Sakura, having seen the same, suggested they just leave if that was true as guards might be after them soon enough. Shirou calmed her as they all sat down and waited.

Time passed and eventually a quiet settled across the room as a door in the back opened and a man walked out. His skin was dark and his hair was ash-blond. His age was hard to tell as he had the eyes of a man in his later years yet a boyish face. He wore robes of a golden cloth and on his brow sat a diadem set with great jewel-like lenses. Finally the thing that proved his identity beyond any doubt, in his hand was a great scepter. A five-foot shaft of a golden metal, ending in a ring adorned with various spurs, crescents and crystals. The Perfect of Paragon entered the hall.

Shirou's eyes were drawn to the scepter itself as the man walked to his throne. Some part of him was reading it in the same way he read a weapon. He couldn't grasp it entirely but it's story was recorded as were it's materials and method of creation. Yet something was missing, possibly multiple pieces, he wasn't sure.

He saw the history of the tool and for an instant he saw the first age. The scepter was a piece of a social experiment, One of two artifacts that lay at the experiment's core. Created by a Solar Exalted that demanded absolute loyalty, the staff bound his people into obeying his laws or suffering pain or death. It's master was slain by an "Assassin from the stars" and the scepter was lost to the desert. Just recently it had been found by the man called the Perfect of Paragon who had claimed it and used it's powers to create and rule the city.

Shirou's mind came into focus of the world around him again and he stumbled back. Rin caught him so he wouldn't make a noise and he nodded to her and got up again to keep an eye on the floor below. Having seen the staff he was strangely tired yet he was sure that his eyes had been opened to something.

He had missed the start of the Perfect's speech but it mattered little as he couldn't understand the Flametongue it was being spoken in. Sakura and Trin were listening intently though so he would be able to ask them later.

The Perfect stopped for a moment and called out. The people in the hall moved around for a moment until there were twenty people kneeling before him. He began speaking again. From the tone, Shirou guessed he was speaking the oaths that they would have to swear to. After he finished there was a general mutter from those on the floor before they stood up and stood to the side as another twenty took their place.

This continued for at least fifteen minutes. When they had all sworn the oaths the Perfect ended his speech and waved his had, all within the hall then respectfully left leaving only the Perfect in the hall.

Sakura frowned slightly before she heard some Flametongue from the door to the balcony "Did you enjoy watching that?" A calm yet slightly accusatory voice. Everyone turned to see the woman from earlier standing there watching all of them, her eyes piercing.

"Now then, you all get a choice; Accept the oaths yourselves or surrender to an arrest while I find out how you got in here."

Sakura turned and translated for the others (Into japanese) before turning back and replying to the woman "We just walked up here, it's not like there was a locked door."

The woman glared for a moment longer before sighing "I'll escort you to a room where we can talk then. I am getting the full story of why you came today."

Sakura translated for the benefit of the others before nodding. The group then followed the woman to a lounge-like room of soft furniture.

The woman sat first and spoke frankly "My name is Scarlet Whisper, Answer truthfully and I may allow you to all walk free."

She looked around the room as the others sat before continuing "Are you the rescuers of the new citizens that I heard them talk about?"

Sakura nodded before raising her hand "More people in our group know High Realm than Flametongue, can we change to that?"

Scarlet Whisper's reply was in fluent High Realm "We can, now then." Her eyes turned again into a piercing stare "What types of Exalts are all of you?"

End of chapter.

Nothing much to say.

Shirou's mind isn't quite ready to understand an N/A level artifact just yet, while it was forged by "The hands of men" those hands were not truely mortal nor using mortal means.

All he has now is a "Pattern" of the Scepter, something like... The blueprint of a blueprint? Either way, the normal means of projecting and tracing won't work for it.

Also before anyone says something about the scepter not being something UBW would copy... Shirou's Exaltation changed his reality marble's nature. Even calling it Unlimited Blade Works isn't really correct anymore.

The Reality Marble's new nature will be revealed over the next act.

Correction; Scarlet Whisper's name was spelled wrong