"Is that any way to talk about your real king?" Andy growled out as he missed his leap as Gawain casually dodged it, confusion turning to and fueling his anger towards the Knights. After nearly a year of hearing about them, he finally meets the ones able to hold a conversation that isn't Pendragons, and they turn out to be fucking evil?
"Why does that matter? I have made my decision and serve the Lion King if my former King wishes to oppose my current one, then he will be my enemy. That is even if he is King Arthur, for he would never work with an ugly creature like you," he said, his voice filled with scathing hate and fury.
"Huh, like you're one to talk, you're the one murdering innocent people," Joan responded. "The real ugly one here is you."
"Murdering innocents, you say? You're misunderstanding this an execution, if they were innocent, their bodies would have glowed like those two, yet they did not. So it means they are creatures of sin unworthy of stepping inside Camelot, nothing can be truly more evil than that," Though this time his tone was calm and face utterly blank.
Arturia was the first one to respond. "Gawain, what has that Lion King done to you to make you do this?" She asked her voice a slight tremble.
"Nothing like I said I made my choice, now would you die Cruel Sun!" He shouted, and at the tip of the sword, a giant fireball manifested that was launched at them.
"I will be taking that! La Grondement Du Haine!" Joan shouted as she absorbed the attack and then launched forth a sea of dark flames that consumed Gawain while manifesting various stakes to pierce and rend him.
But after all that, the man just stood utterly unscathed after the storm of fire dissipated. "That was nothing more than a gentle breeze," The man spoke as he cracked his neck.
"How did he?" Mash asked as she looked at the utterly unhurt Gawain.
"Well, shit," Andy said, suddenly realizing the futility of this, vaguely recalling how Gawain was supposed to be invincible under the sun. "Plan B!" He said, pulling a canister of some kind off of his belt and throwing it full force at Gawain.
The knight reacted instantly and cut the flying object in twain, activating the flashbang.
And all four of them ran away from Gawain and back to Ritsuka, who had eliminated the knights (which looked to be animated pieces of armor) and had switched in Drake and had her summon up the Hind to carry as many of the refugees as possible.
"So, you wish to run away?" Gawain's voice rang throughout the entire area. "Might be blind now, but there will be no escape for you. This sword is a reflection of the Sun." And Andy saw a second sun manifest in the air where he had seen Gawain throw his sword up into. And underneath his feet, a magical circle had manifested as he grabbed onto a beam of energy that bloomed from the second sun. "And its reach is Thirteen Kilometers none shall leave alive, Excalibur Gala-!"
But like a fucking miracle descending from the heavens, he got stopped, and bitch smacked all the way down to the Gate by Bedivere and his Arigetlam.
"Huh, I actually thought for a second we were going to die but fucking go Bedivere!" Ritsuka shouted as the ship was fully boarded, and Bedivere returned to them, though he looked exhausted so that attack had probably taken a lot out of him. "Drake, it's time to move!"
"To where Master!" The Privateer shouted back.
"Actually, do you have an idea, Andy? I was thinking the mountains, but you're in charge?" His fellow teen asked.
"Full speed that way!" Andy said, pointing out towards the Pharaoh's domain. "Our best bet right now is working with Ozymandias, so hopefully he's willing to take in a few more refugees! And if he tries to pull something like this…" Andy let go of the railing he'd been holding on to that he'd crushed without realizing it. "We're going to roast him."
"You heard the man Drake move!" He shouted as the ship turned towards the desert at full knots as it flew through the air.
Xxx
"So, that was fucking insane," Ritsuka stated as he sat beside Andy, who himself was up sitting on the deck against the ship's railing. The night sky having once again returned now that they were far away from the Holy City. "That is the first time I've actually seen so many people die at once, so I don't know what to think right now."
"I'd say you get used to it, but you never really do," Andy said, gazing up at the stars and cursing the damn ring up there. "Though...I've never seen that many people die at once either." He said, not saying how he'd seen far slower, far more gruesome deaths already.
"That sounds like standard soldier stuff, though what about Arturia? How is she doing? That was one of her knights, wasn't it?"
"She...didn't take it very well, and wanted to be alone for a bit," Andy said, carefully choosing his words.
"Yeah, I would be too."
"Yeah," Andy said with a sigh. "Though, that other thing you said. We really aren't soldiers. You're just a kid, man, you weren't ready for any of this." Then, so softly that Ritsuka barely heard him over the wind, he continued. "I wasn't ready for this."
"I don't think anyone is, I wasn't ready when I discovered the world of Stands and Stand battles, but I had to adapt, or it would eat me… We're going to need one of those therapists after this, aren't we?"
Andy chuckled. "Man, we're gonna need a whole army of 'em."
"Going to need one of their own after get done explaining all of this shit, but fuck me how do we deal with Knights if they are anywhere near the level of Gawain or even the man himself, Bedivere was lucky and he only managed to knock him back," Ritsuka stated, tilting his head in the way Andy associated with Servant Telepathy. "Also, we're going to be arriving in an hour."
"Eh," Andy said, making a so-so gesture with his hand. "I've already got a few ideas for dealing with Gawain, and as long as the others don't have his level of 'no u' invincibility, we should be able to handle anything they throw at us. So long as they don't catch us off guard, anyway."
"Hopefully, it will be that easy… And what, can I help you with something, kid?" Ritsuka moved his words towards the small boy standing in front of the two of them.
The child was dressed in plain clothes that fit the era. "Thank you for saving mom, she was all glowy, and one of those scary knights tried to take her, but you stopped him so thanks," He thanked Ritsuka with a big happy smile.
"Thank you kid, I couldn't let them take her now could I?" He responded with a happy smile of his own.
"So, you're all heroes like the Legendary Arash then right?" He asked.
"Something like that." Andy chimed in after subtly switching out Mozart for a certain Archer. "Actually, I think one of my men is named Arash. He's an archer too, but that might just be a coincidence." He said, giving Arash the telepathic cue to take physical form just out of the kid's line of sight and walk up to them.
"Hello there kid, heard that you like Arash right?" He asked as he took a knee before the kid. Said kid nodding widely with his head. "Well, as my friend here said, my name is Arash too, and would you like to see some bow shots?" He asked.
"I would like to, Mister."
"Then come with me." At that, Arash and the kid left the two Masters alone, though their silence did not last long as a female voice spoke.
"Thank you for that it was very kind of you to do that for," She said with a smile.
"Eh, it's no problem," Andy said. "Seeing kids happy like that makes me happy."
"And I thank you again for doing that for my son, and saving my life… Dare not think about what would have happened if my life had ended and him ending up alone now. You're truly a miracle from god all of you," She said as she walked away, giving the two a deep bow.
"...And that's part of what helps keep me going, despite all the bs." Andy said to Ritsuka after a moment.
"Yeah, that felt nice," Ritsuka added.
"Glad to see the two of you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. You're about to cross back into the desert, so I will be unable to communicate with you until you leave it, so some quick information. I did manage to get a scan of the Lion King and he or she has the same Spirit Origin as Arturia, but it's much bigger and much more powerful than your daughter's own," Roman informed the two.
Andy frowned. "Like, Divine Spirit big?"
"If I had to make a comparison, then yeah, but I couldn't detect any divine energies, but she does seem to have Saint Graph that is the same as Storm's own, so she is probably wielding Rhongomyniad," The Doctor responded.
"So no bringing in Mordred, got it," Andy said with a nod. "Anything else? Maybe literally anything on Gawain or the other knights? Because that dude was too OP to be a normal servant."
"Gawain has Numeral of the Saints a Skill that triples his abilities while under the sun, so yeah, he is invincible, and I wouldn't take the other knights lightly as then you read their legends they are full of bullshit. But I can't really say anything more than until I know which Knights of the Round have been summoned for I don't think every one of them has with how Gawain kept going on about choice," The man explained.
"Speaking of I have a knight to comfort some more myself, so see you two later," At that Ritsuka left while Andy and Roman continued to stare at each other.
"And before the signal is lost, Cursed-Arm has something he wants to say to you," At that Roman's image was replaced with that of Hassan.
"Hey, Hassan. Got something to say about the local Hassans?"
"They should all be up in the mountains, and there is probably a version of me there too, but what I want to say the most is thanking you and Ritsuka for saving my people, for saving my former wife and her child."
"Wait, she was your-...No problem, Hassan. I'm gonna guess here that you don't want to be brought in right now, though?" Andy asked.
"Yes, for I am a hundred percent sure that I've already been summoned to defend the Era and its people along with other Hassans. But I have advice for you in how to deal with Gawain," He said, his tone utterly serious.
"Please give it, I'm willing to take all the suggestions right now," Andy said, just as serious.
"After you have delivered the people to the Sun King, I suggest heading towards the mountains and finding the other Hassans and ask them to show you the way to mausoleum of the Founder, the First should assist you if you plead your case to him, and offer up a good enough head for him, though I am sure if Serenity has been summoned she or I will happily give it up." At that, his image disappeared as they entered the Pharaoh's desert.
"Good enough, head?" Andy asked himself, before shaking his own head and deciding to not think about it for now, and instead see if Arturia was willing to talk now, heading down to the room she was holed up in, thinking over what he could actually say to comfort her, switching to female form on the way down.
She stood outside the door for a moment, and heard Arturia talking or rather somewhat yelling if Andy was being honest. And it sounded like the recipient of her verbal assault was Bedivere as she continued to yell at him to tell her what he knew about the Lion King.
Andy knocked once, twice, three times loud enough to be heard even with the yelling but careful not to sound too forceful. "Tori? Can I talk to you for a moment, sweetie?"
At that, the room went silent and a few seconds later, Bedivere hurriedly exited the room, giving Andy a swift apology as he left the two of them alone. And inside Andy could see Arturia sitting on a bed, hands folded and a pained expression on her face.
Instead of saying anything else at that moment, Andy simply went over and sat down next to her on the bed. But even after a few minutes like that, the King said nothing. Andy sighed internally as she pulled Arturia into a side hug. "I…" Andy started but trailed off. "I have no idea what this must be like for you. But...I'm here, if you want to talk about it."
"He, he knows something, something about the Lion King, something that version of me at the very least but he isn't telling, he won't tell me, and I just got frustrated and I went off on him and he just took it and did not budge on the issue. He is my most loyal knight and trusted friend, so for him not too… I don't even know anymore what is even happening in this place?" She asked the empty air.
"...I can only make guesses. Like that, the Lion King is probably some kind of Alter, because she isn't acting like you which means she has to be, since your the best version of you possible." Andy said. "And for Bedivere...his Master is Merlin, so it's almost definitely one of his schemes, and Bedivere is just playing along."
"Right about that, I am the best, and while Merlin is involved, he wouldn't make Bedivere stay quiet; he is incapable of not running his mouth and would have 'spoiled' the entire plot by now if knew all that was going on. No Bedivere is keeping quiet of his own free will, and that is why I was so uprilled as that is very much not him."
"Mhm." Andy 'said', not knowing enough about Bedivere to say otherwise or agree. "Well, he's definitely lying about having only been here for a day before us. There's no way in hell he just showed up coincidentally in a place full of Round Table Knights that have to have been around for a while just like that. But I don't think he was lying about the rest, or being on our side."
"No, no, he did not, just his relationship with that Lion King; I just hope he will trust me enough to tell me what is what, also mom, can you stay with me?"
"Of course, sweetie," Andy said, hugging her a bit closer. "Always."
Xxx
June 22nd
"So, do you understand the enemy that you face and the power they possess?" Ozymandias asked as he sat upon his throne.
They all stood in front of the Pharaoh that early morning as the man had let them rest after they had arrived with the native refugees, the King of Kings happily accepting their plea for safety. Though the man seemed oddly pleased for some reason as they all stood before him.
"That we do, your majesty," Andy said. "Forgive this fool for ever doubting you."
"What is there to forgive? Ignorance only becomes sin if the truth after being experienced is still denied, and you do not deny that the Lion King is the enemy, and the knights possess strength surpassing most Servants. But have you given up hope, do you wish to lie down accept death at their hand?"
"Forgive my language, but hell to the fuck no," Andy said. "When faced with an invincible hero, one goes for the heel. There is a weak point we can attack, a tactical weakness we can exploit, a weapon we can use, whatever. Now, it's simply a matter of figuring out what it is."
"HEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Pharaoh laughed in response seemingly greatly pleased. "Good, that is good to hear, so what do you excellent foolish fools plan to do now?"
The Pharaoh's mirth was surprisingly infectious for Andy as she grinned back up at the Pharoah. "For now, I was thinking of heading to the Mountain to recruit some Old Men, as it were."
"If you do, let me give you some advice to make your little alliance easier to establish, though this only because you have Arash Kamingar as an ally. In the wasteland created by combined efforts of the Crusaders and the Lion King, there is a prison for those that oppose the Lion King and there a Hassan is currently captured rescue them, and they will see you in a favorable light, but that is all you're getting from me."
"Thank you for the advice, your Majesty," Andy said with a bow. "We shall depart at your leave."
"Then you're dismissed; hopefully I won't have to see you return here," He said as he waved his hand, and several servants came out with drinks, food and began to fan him.
Andy could tell he just did that to show off.
Xxx
"Well, glad to see that you're all okay once again," Roman said as they sailed on Drake's ship, having once again left the desert. "I've been scanning the wasteland, and what a depressing sight it is, but I found what you're looking for."
"The prison, right," Andy said, snapping out of her stupor as she looked up from what looked to be parabolic arc calculations she was doing by hand. "Can you guys pick up how many Servants are there yet, or are we too far out?"
"About twenty minutes or so going by your current speed," He answered. "As for Servants, can't tell the place is designed so no magical energy can escape and be sensed, but that doesn't work if you can just echolocate it and basically have the world's best camera satellite. But speaking of Servants, one is currently approaching you or rather running towards you, should be in viewing distance if you look towards your left," Roman said.
"Running at us?" Andy said, looking over the railing she was sitting next to on the deck to see Xuanzang running away from a giant dragon that was chasing her with tears running comically down her face.
"You know Doc, you could also have mentioned the dragon?" Ritsuka deadpanned.
"Ritsuka, have Drake come pick us up then," Andy said, transforming as she stood on the railing, her still-unnamed sword in hand. "I need to go save my teacher real quick." She said, taking a moment to predict her flight path before leaping off the railing sword first towards where the dragon would be while yelling. "LAOSHI, MOVE!"
"Huh? Andy?" She heard Xuanzang respond as she came to a stop and looked up to see Andy falling, completely forgetting about the dragon that was about to eat her.
"DAMMIT LAOSHI MOVE!" Andy yelled, adjusting her arc with a burst of fire from the wrist-mounted flamethrowers in her suit, just in time to land sword first in the back of the dragon, nailing it to the ground with the force of the fall.
"WAH YOU CRAZY!" She shouted back as she jumped out of to the side.
"Yup!" Andy said as she pulled her way free from the carcass, going over to Xuanzang while storing her armor to not have to deal with the dragon blood for the moment before sweeping the busty buddha up in a hug. "Good to see you, Laoshi!"
"Happy to see you too, my dear disciple. How long has it been? About two months or so, right?" She asks.
"Only juststill-unnamed one month and change, I think." Andy corrected. "More importantly, what are you doing here Laoshi? Did you get lost again?"
"..." She stayed quiet for a few seconds as a blush bloomed on her face. "Well, not exactly, I beat Nezha's pretty little face, but then I woke up in this place, went to the Holy City, stayed there for a bit left and saw the sights. Picked up another disciple but I've seemed to have lost Touta somewhere… Probably then I tried to summon the White Dragon Horse, and I ended up getting that thing," She pointed at the dead dragon.
"Well, considering we've got a ship," Andy said, motioning towards it with one of her free hands, "It's better that you got this than...him, especially since this wasteland sucks." She said, not mentioning how relieved she was that Red Hare wasn't there. He was...okay, but the uncanny valley was still a bit much.
"You really don't like Mr. Hare do you?" She asked.
"...No comment." Andy said, hailing the ship down towards them with her more massive arms and conveniently not looking at Xuanzang as she answered.
"Also, Andy, did something happen to you, for you seem a bit different? Like a little more zen and at peace with yourself?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah, right, check it," Andy said, quick-drawing her Evoker and shooting herself in the head, Xuanzang unleashing an expression of shock, which only got worse when Ahriman appeared behind Andy. "I punched myself in the face hard enough that I can do this now. And I stopped lying about certain things I'll explain later, so yeah, I am a little more zen."
Though after she had explained, Xuanzang got a big happy grin on her face. "That's my disciple… I don't really get the how but I know what you mean."
"Thanks, Laoshi," Andy said, grinning back. "Now, let's get back on the Hind, and I'll explain what's happening, and you can tell us what the inside of the Holy City is like. And also how the hell you managed to get in."
"If you want," She responded as the two of them they climbed the rope ladder they had thrown down.
"You know I should stop being surprised yet I still am," Ritsuka said after Xuanzang had introduced herself. "Like opening a Kinder Egg and seeing the toy inside the novelty just doesn't wear off."
"You know, I've never actually had a Kinder Egg before," Andy noted. "Are they any good?"
"Chocolate is fine, nothing special, but the toys are fine."
"Once again, idiot Americans being idiots," Da Vinci commented. "Now getting back on topic. Lady Xuanzang, I heard you say that you were inside the Holy City, correct?"
"Yeah, that. It would really help if we knew what it's like in there, Laoshi." Andy concurred.
"Peaceful, safe for the humans living there calling it heaven or paradise would not be a wrong statement to make," She responded.
"Laoshi, you do know how they pick who gets in, right?" Andy asked softly.
"I found out later, and that was why I left the city as I knew I wouldn't win a fight against that Goddess," She answered.
"I'm sorry, goddess?" Andy asked.
"Didn't you know that the Lion King is a Goddess? Well, she is good at hiding her divine presence so she would only register as a powerful Servant, but I've hung around enough beings like her to know what is what."
"Thank you for saying that Xuanzang," Roman interjected as his hologram appeared. "That at least confirms the theory that I've been discussing with Storm regarding the nature of that Arturia Pendragon."
"On the one hand, I want to say 'I told you so' Boss, but on the other hand, I'm worried now, because why is she a goddess?" Andy asked.
"Storm can explain it better than me I am changing the channel to her," Roman said as the screen shifted.
"Wow, those are big!" Commented Xuanzang.
"Hello, Master," The Alter Servant greeted them.
"Storm, good to see you, so could you please explain why the Lion King is apparently a goddess?" Came Andy's reply.
"Rhongomyniad, it is not just a lance; the lance you see me wield is merely the shadow of the Tower that stands at the end of the Earth. It is one of the pillars which quite literally makes sure reality doesn't come undone. But there is a will behind an intelligence, and that is why I am an Alter as I used what people called the 'Mud of the Grail' to counter its influences and not transforming me into a Divine Spirit as I favored it more than Excalibur in usage, and is also why my body is more 'mature' than the counterpart that you have adopted. What you're facing is not Arturia Pendragon but the Goddess Rhongomyniad. But I can't answer what her plan is or how the transformation progressed to the point that it has. As it should've taken longer than our life would have lasted," Storm finished explaining.
"One of the few things I've learned is that it's best not to speculate on stuff like that last part right now, but thank you for the information Storm," Andy said, already ignoring her own advice. "For now, we should focus on the prison, and once we're through with that, then we figure out the hows and whys and such."
"Then I shall talk to you later, Master," Storm said as the screen disappeared.
"I think that's a good idea for I feel like my brain is about to burst from that information dump," Ritsuka said. "Now Drake, are we there yet?"
"About five minutes, I can see it on the horizon, though from what I can tell, most of it is probably underground," The Rider answered.
Xxx
"I love the smell of dungeon in the morning," Ritsuka joked as they all walked the halls of the underground prison after having taken out the Knight Enforcers that were guarding the place.
"Kinky." Was Andy's comment as she looked over the helmet of one of the Knight Enforcers.
"Senpai, this is not that kind of dungeon," Mash responded. "And I can sense a Servant up ahead."
"I can too… hey, it's Touta, so this is where he ended up. Huh, usually, it's me that ends up being captured," Xuanzang said as she banged her staff. "And I got another one, two floors down."
"Good, more allies are always good," Andy said, before motioning towards the helmet. "Also, I meant this is really kinky, which is why I don't get why they're so damn tough."
"Alchemically treated, possibly you have to remember Andy when it comes to certain metals and magecraft if your good enough conventional design can fly out of the window," Da Vinci responded as she took and flicked the helmet with fingers making it ping a little.
"I know that in principle, the armor you made is way better than this stuff, but this is just regular steel, and poorly made. Imagine how tough it would be if it was properly made? Or made out of something tougher?" She said, face a mix of eagerness at the possibilities and growing dread at the possibilities. "Plus, the fact that these guys are just armor, going off of these flaws, they're probably rushing them out as quickly as they can make them."
"Probably, I think they are leftovers from when they fought the Crusaders, for when they fought them. While Ozymandias did make off with the Grail after they summoned him, it is not unbelievable to think he was the only one they summoned. While we did discuss Richard being the Lion King, I now do think he was summoned but by the Crusaders and fought against the Lion King," Da Vinci proposed.
"Sounds like a logical theory Da Vinci," Arturia responded, the Saber-class Servant now a lot happier after their conversation, but Bedivere had still yet to speak a single word himself since their argument.
Andy stored away the helmet with the rest of the pieces of the Knight Enforcers she'd been collecting. "Well, I can figure out reverse engineering this later, I suppose." She said right before they walked right up to Touta's cell.
"Ah, Lady Xuanzang, good to see you ended up in quite a pickle and got captured by those knight guys," Spoke the man carrying a giant... barrel? On his shoulder. "And you've brought along others? Well, the name is Tawara Touta a simple Archer, I would have broken out, but this cell drains magical energy so I can't escape, hm."
"The founder of Kanto Martial Arts? The man who slew the demonic centipede Mount Mikami?" Ritsuka asked.
"Yep, that's me," He responded. "Glad to know some modern kid knows my legend. Honestly, I thought a small guy like me would have faded into obscurity, but it seems my story has preserved, can't be mad about that, hm."
"So," Andy said as Arturia cut the lock. "Touta. What's with the barrel?"
"It's a bale," He responded. "And it's filled with rice, hm."
"...Rice?" Andy said slowly, voice neutral.
"Yep rice, it was my reward for slaying the centipede, and as long as I feed it magical energy, it will produce an infinite of rice, hm." He answered.
"Ah," Andy said. "Say, Touta, would you consider staying with me, I mean Chaldea, forever?"
"Geez, dude, take me on a date first before seeking that kind of commitment, hm." He joked, which caused everyone to chuckle.
"Master, what would Astolfo think about you abandoning Astolfo for another man for food?" Arash jokingly said. "Though an infinite amount of rice would be good for, I actually think we're starting to have to ration a bit on certain things."
Andy scoffed, affronted. "I would never abandon my Astolfo! Not even for infinite rice!" She said firmly, before crossing her arms and nodding. "Azzy's been pushing me to start a harem anyway, so he'd be totally on board if Touta joined, but that doesn't matter because I meant for the rice earlier."
"Guess someone has a favorite kind of food," Touta chuckled. "Sorry but I was joking earlier, I very much loved my wife and still do. But I will be willing to join up with Chaldea. Lady Xuanzang told me a lot about you, hm."
"Wonderful! And to be clear, I was not propositioning you!" Andy clarified before the rest of the statement registered. "And oho~, Laoshi was talking about me? Good things, I'd hope?"
"Of course, my disciple, I would only ever complain about Wukong, not you," She interjected into the conversation.
"Yes, Lady Xuanzang had nothing but praise for you, though I have to ask, are you planning to rescue the other Servant trapped within this dungeon?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, no offense but that's actually the main reason we came here in the first place, Laoshi just happened to hitch a ride," Andy explained. "Speaking of, we should probably go do that now while we still can before security realizes we're here, assuming they can think."
"Sounds like the lucky stroke for me, and I think they can I've heard them speak, but it sounds something like this." He responded his voice changing to sound like a male version of a particular test crazy AI.
"Well, in that case, we need to hurry up. I can't imagine what they're doing to that Hassan down there." Andy said, images of torture flashing through her head, interrupted by puzzles from Touta's impression. Deadly, lethal puzzles manned by little robots with spring-powered machine guns.
"Right, we should hurry before the grumpy guy in charge comes back," Touta said as they all began to run with swift steps down to the next two floors. Which was a single room designed for torture with all kinds of nasty apparatus scattered about?
And chained to the wall was a Hassan easily recognized by the skull Mask on her face.
"Hassan-i-Sabbah. We're here to rescue you." Andy said as she walked over to unchain her, only to get no response. Poor thing was out cold. Andy made quick work of the locks on the manacles holding her up, catching the small Hashashin and holding her in a princess carry, which seemed to be Andy's go-to for carrying people.
"Urgh," She groaned as the movement of being moved woke her up, and her eyes fluttered open, and Andy could see they were a deep purple color. "Are you carrying me? Touching me?" She asked.
"Oh, sorry, does that make you uncomfortable? I can put you down, if you're able to walk yourself." Andy said, genuinely worried about the Hassan.
"No, I should apologize. I see you came to save me but now I have killed you; my entire body is poisonous, my sweat, my skin, all of my fluids are deadly." She said in sorrow full tone. But, but Andy couldn't feel anything happening cause the way she was talking it sounded like the shit was fast-acting.
"Well, shit. Ritsuka, guess you're in charge now." Andy said, jokingly. Either she was somehow immune or actually already dead and just hadn't realized it yet so might as well make light of the situation. "We should probably get out of here, though, since I'm not particularly fond of dying in some dungeon."
"Hmm, Senpai, remember when the Doctor during London proposed that my contract with you made you immune to poisons… Well, it seems you've proven that theory," Mash said.
"Yeah, I think Mash is right about that, I've got your vitals, and nothing is showing as wrong, so I guess you're the only one that should handle her," Da Vinci said.
Which elicited a response from Serenity. "You're not dying? That means I can," She said as her hand came up to her chin and lightly caressed it. "So this is what the presence of another feels like? I've almost forgotten this feeling." Her tone was one of elated happiness as tears went down from under her mask.
Andy blushed a bit, but she could quickly put together that Serenity was touch-starved, so Andy let her. "Well, we should still get out of here, yes? I'd rather not run into another invincible knight." She said, making no move to put the Hassan down.
"Yes, that would be a rather good idea, Mother," Saber said as they turned around to the stairs and…
"You're a little late for that. Hello, your majesty, Bedivere, Galahad. And ah what a surprise to see you again, sister," The dark knight said.
"Agravain," Arturia said in a low tone.
"Agravain the Handsome?" Andy asked, surprised. Agravain was probably her favorite less popular knight from the Arthurian Cycle, but she honestly wasn't expecting to see him here.
"I was still a little unsure about the truth of Gawain's report, but it is good enough to have confirmation for myself, so welcome to my torture chamber, I hope you enjoyed your stay Hassan of Serenity," He said in a very calm and collected voice that kinda verged into unnerving.
"So Agravain, I assume you to have received a Gift from the Lion King like Gawain did?" Arturia asked.
"No, I refused it after my choice to serve her, for it would have impaired my abilities to manage Camelot," He responded.
"Oh good, he's not immortal." Andy sighed in relief.
"Only Gawain could be counted as such among us, but I do not need it to smack little whores like you," He spoke with a slight growl. As enforcers rushed into the room though these seemed different from the normal ones. As looked more like Berserker Lancelot clones than anything else.
"You, you spread your madness enhancement to them?" Da Vinci said in slight shock.
"It seems this one has a brain, but I shall take my leave now I only came by because someone destroyed the guards, I already got what I wanted from that broken little Assassin," Agravain said as he turned around, and Andy felt Serenity squirm in her arms as the man left.
Once Agravain was more-or-less out of earshot, Andy gave the order. "Alright, take these guys down, but try and just Monty Python Black Knight one of them, I want to look at the magic animating these guys, especially since he somehow gave them his Madness."
"Hear you," they responded.
"Ever the researcher, sometimes I forget how much you've bitten that flu Andy," Da Vinci commented.
"Hey, I may not be able to magic anymore, but by god can I still SCIENCE!" Andy reminded the Renaissance (wo)man as the Servants got to work.
Xxx
"Glad to be out of there, Gareth, how are you?" Ritsuka asked the knight after they had once again boarded the Golden Hind.
"I am fine, Master, I just froze again upon seeing Agravain. I forgot to ask why they were following the Lion King, and about the others and about me if a version had been summoned too."
"You need not beat yourself up on that Gareth, I did almost the same and asked the wrong question," Arturia respond.
"Your majesty!"
"It is fine, Gareth perhaps next time we shall have our answer," She said as she turned to Andy. "So, Mother, shall we head for the mountains now that the Hassan has been retrieved?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Andy said from where she was examining the still-animated but limbless Enforcer, Serenity cuddled into her side. "Serenity, you'll lead us to the right place once we're up there, right?"
"Of course, I know most of the locations of the villages, and I shall guide you, my Lord, to the one where Cursed Arm, Hundred Personas and the version of Lord Kamingar that was summoned to this Singularity is stationed."
"Huh, another me here? Guess that makes sense; this could be called my region," The Archer said with a smile.
"Do you want to meet yourself, Arash?" Andy asked, not actually sure how he felt on the topic. She knew it was weird enough meeting another Class version of yourself from the Arturia's and Cu Chulainn's, but it must be even weirder meeting one in the same class. Since honestly, what other class could Arash the Archer be? "Or would be too weird?"
"Eh, I think you should switch me out for now, cause I know that I would work with you and I think having two of us would get in the way of each other," He responded.
"Alright, if that's how you feel," Andy said. "Now or when we get there?"
"You can do it now," He said.
"Alright, let's see… Paracelsus then." Andy said, swapping out Arash for said Caster. "Hey, Parry, you wanna help me examine this guy? Also, don't touch Serenity; she's literally hyper-poisonous."
"Oh I know though my Philosopher stone can be made to counteract it for a time, now Master what do you require my skills for?" He asked.
"This guy," Andy said, tapping the knight's helmet, causing it to shake violently at her again, to no avail. "It's alchemically tough enough to kind-of stand up to a Servant, but I can't quite figure out what's animating it, but imagine if we could combine the concept behind these guys with literally any of the projects we're working on?"
"Well, I see what I can do," He responded as he pulled up his sleeves.
Xxx
A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories you can donate to my P A Treon. com (Slash) StreamingViking and read commissioned stories