"Serenity, is this the correct path?" Da Vinci asked as they all walked up the side of the mountain as the Golden Hind wasn't able to fly high enough to enter the area where the village they needed to go was located and too wide to float through the some of the rather narrow passageways.
So they had to go on foot the rest of the way.
"Yes, we should only have a few hundred meters remaining," Answered the female Hassan.
"I just needed to know," The Caster responded.
Andy decided now would be as good a time as ever to ask Serenity about what they were walking into, especially since said Hassan was currently clinging to her left arm. "So, Serenity. Which of your fellows has been summoned here? We know about the Hundred Personas being here already, but it would be nice to know in advance."
"At the start, every one of us was summoned. Even the Zealot was. But over time, many of my predecessors, and successors fell to the Knights and Raider Knights of the Holy City. And since my imprisonment, I don't know how many are left," She answered.
"Ah," Andy said, not sure what else to say after walking on that land mine. "Um, who's 'the Zealot'?"
"The one who competed with Lord Hundred for the title of Hassan-I-Sabbah. But she was deemed too immature and willful to be a leader of our sect. She was a genius but could not create a Zabaniya of her own, only imitate those that came before."
"I mean, that sounds useful in and of itself nowadays, but I think I understand," Andy said. "Though what do you mean 'willful'? Like, trying to change how the Hashashin operate or something?"
"Perhaps it is better to say she was too enthusiastic about her work, and disobeyed orders, and messed up assassination by killing too many besides the target or in her own words. 'Nobody can find out what you've done if there is no one to notice.' And her leadership abilities were not up to par either."
"Oh, like that, gotcha," Andy said, fully understanding now. "I'd assume she didn't last long here, either?"
"No, no, she did not. The moment she learned of the Lion King, she rushed off to kill the enemy of Allah and was immediately killed," Serenity answered.
"Wow," Andy said, marveling at that level of, well, zealous self-belief and galaxy-brain strategizing. "Well, I suppose that's a good thing. I don't think I'd be able to handle that kind of bullheadedness."
"No, she would try to kill you, Lord Andy," Serenity responded.
"Yeesh. I'm happy I keep meeting the nice, reasonable Assassins like you then." Andy said, not liking the idea of dealing with that at all.
"Your praise is admirable, but in the end, I failed as a Hassan," She said. "We should arrive soon though everyone, do be careful as Lord Cursed Arm will most definitely be guarding the entrance to East Village."
"I mean, you're with us and very clearly could kill us at a moment's notice if you really wanted to. We should be fine." Andy said, since reasonably speaking, having Serenity in their midsts could easily lead to all of their deaths if she betrayed them. It was part of why she was letting the Hassan be so clingy, the other more substantial part being trust.
"Maybe considering the situation, he is going to be throwing knives ask questions later… Like that," Ritsuka said as a dirk popped out his Shadow and clanged against the ground.
"I do not know who you are, but if you do not," Spoke the voice of Cursed Arm, and Andy notice him clinging to one of the mountains cliff sides like a spider, another dirk already in hand. "...Serenity!" He quickly added in shock as he noticed the Poison Girl clinging to her side. "I thought that you were?"
"I was, but they managed to save me, they are not the enemy Lord Cursed Arm, the fight against the Lion King and even managed to save some of our people from a massacre," Serenity told the much older Assassin.
"I see, I apologize for my hasty actions, we've been rather tense the past few days," The Hassan apologized as he jumped down onto the ground.
"We understand, don't worry," Andy said placatingly. "But on that note. We would like to enter your hideout and, if possible, request a meeting with the first of your number."
"...You wish to meet with the Founder? You must be insane, but perhaps that kind of insanity is what we need to win. Very well, you can go into the village proper, and we can talk properly over dinner." He said as he turned around.
"Sounds good to me," Andy said, taking the insanity comment in stride as they followed Cursed Arm.
The village they entered consisted of civilians and rundown shacks of stone, clay, and dung. With most of the adults looking like they were suffering from mild forms malnourishment.
"We're hard-pressed for proper supplies, while thankfully we have a spring that can give clean water, we do not have a way to feed everyone equally, so most of the adults have been skipping meals to keep the children as healthy as possible," Cursed Arm told them as they made their way to the central plaza of the town.
Andy had to think for all of two seconds on how to respond to that. "Touta, would you mind feeding the people?" She said, heart, going out to them. "I'm sure they'd appreciate some nice rice."
"Of course Cursed Arm tell the people to gather as many bags, pots, and baskets as possible. They shall get all the food nourish full rice they desire," Touta said with a smile.
"Touta? Then? I see thank you for your generosity," Cursed Arm responded as they came to the center where they found Hundred Personas standing probably waiting for Cursen Arm.
"Cursed arm, did you chase away the… You," She said as her eyes landed on Andy and co.
"Me~." Andy said, a certain smug smirk on her face. "Thanks for the desert bunny, she was really useful in persuading the Sun King."
"So you were on… Serenity!" She shouted as she, too, finally took notice of the shy Hassan. "We thought that you were still, we were planning to go and rescue… Also, how are you not dead?" Persona asked as she noticed that she was touching Andy and that she was not dying.
"Immunity to poison," Andy said with a one-armed shrug. "Really useful for a lot of different reasons, obviously."
"Lord Hundred, please calm down Lord Andy is not the enemy they rescued us she is Master of Servants who has come to this time fight the Lion King alongside her compatriots," Serenity told her fellow Hassan.
"What Serenity said, we aren't here to fight you we're here to save as many people as possible, even if you don't like us we do have that point in common, so let's work together," Ritsuka said as he pulled his hood and gave Personas a wide smile.
"Hmm, then you say it like guess I was a bit hasty, with my actions in the desert. Though not my fault as you had Knights of the Round on your side."
"Hassan of a Hundred Personas, you are a Servant, so you should very much know that multiple versions of the same Servant can exist and be summoned at the same time," Said Arturia. "That 'me' has crossed too many lines and needs to be stopped, and for that, we need your assistance."
"What Tori said, we need the Hassan-i-Sabbah to defeat the Lion King and her forces. And to stop the immortal knight Gawain, we'll need to meet the Original." Andy said.
"Yes, the Founder would be able to kill the Knight guarding the gates of the Holy City, for as long as he does that, any assault will fail," Personas said with a few short nods of her head.
"Yes, that is why I will be leading them to the Shrine of Azrael in the morning," Serenity said.
"You literally call your founder the Angel of Death?" Andy asked. "That is so metal."
"That is another way to call the Founder, for he does not kill you physically; no, it is more accurate to say he severs your fate itself," Cursed Arm said.
"So he is capable of doing something similar to Shiki and her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception then?" Da Vinci stated/muttered to herself. "I would have suggested bringing her in, but her physicality is not up to par to accomplish that kind of 'assassination.'"
"Oh yeah, Plan S, almost forgot about that one," Andy said with a nod. "So your Founder can hyper-death people, that does seem to be exactly what we need. Is there anything else we should know before we meet him then?"
"While he is the First Hassan to say he is also the last Hassan as he keeps watch over all of us, so that in case we stray from the path of Hassan-I-Sabbah, he would take our head. That is how I died, I fell in love with target and so did not kill him, the last thing I saw was the Founder's blade separating my head from my body," Serenity admitted a tone of shamefulness in her voice.
"Yes, and to go to him is to admit we've failed our duty, and so one of will probably die serving as a sacrifice for him to act in our stead, but that is a thing we are very willing to go through with." Cursed arm finished.
"...Oh," Andy said, no longer quite so eager to meet the first Hassan as her own Cursed Arm's words suddenly made sense. "Hey, Da Vinci, for no particular reason, we wouldn't be able to make a rocket to launch Gawain into Ars Almadel Salomonis, right?"
"No, no, as much I would like to take advantage of those the ring is simply to high up being located in the upper atmosphere and remember the ring is the size of the USA." Da Vinci responded.
"And, Senpai, I don't think that Gawain would let us accomplish that."
"Yeah, my current totally being a giant fucking moron brother would just sun it up to get back down using Galatine as a counter rocket," Gareth added.
"I figured as much," Andy said with a sigh, not liking the idea of having to sacrifice an ally, even if they did it willingly, even if they were a Servant and already dead. "I just...despise being forced to sacrifice an ally like this."
"You're not being forced to do anything, honestly contracting the Founder would have happened sooner or later, now we just choose sooner instead of waiting until the last moment when everything we tried to protect has been destroyed," Cursed Arm said.
"And Lord Andy, we're Hassan, and as such, we've prepared for death to take us, the second our training began," Serenity added.
"...I understand, I think." Andy said, respect for their dedication, meaning she cut off her thoughts there. "Then, I guess since that's all going to happen then, we should take a headcount on which Hassans are left," Andy said, immediately cringing at herself for the poor choice in words. "Pun not intended."
"Serenity, Hundred Personas and I are the only ones left, and many of Personas bodies are now guarding other villages that other Hassans did before they met their end," Cursed Arm answered.
"Damn that sucks, but I am pretty sure that I heard Serenity mention that you had Arash on your side? Where is he now?" Ritsuka asked.
"Lord Kamingar is currently out hunting wild beasts, but now that you've mentioned it, he should have returned by now… I think something is wrong," Cursed Arm said.
And at that moment, the sound of an explosion rushed through the village.
"That came from the west side!" Personas shouted. "We need to go!"
"Let's go! Laoshi, stay here with Touta to protect the village!" Andy ordered.
"I hear you, my disciple, the Buddha shall protect this village of the innocent now go!"
Team Chaldea followed the Hassans to the west side, and quickly came across…
"Damn you, Bow Bastard, let me hit come close hit you! ARGH!" Mordred shouted as red lightning blasted from her body as it surged up her sword. "Clarent Blood-!" But she was interrupted as a thousand arrows pelted her body fired in an instant by Arash who just had a smile on his face as notched another arrow this one much larger and launched it at Mordred who blocked it and then was sent flying backward.
"And now there is more!" She growled and settled into a stance both of her hands on Clarent. "When you find one rat, more just comes out of the woodworks."
"Tori, Joan, Mash!" Andy ordered, since Arturia knew how to fight Mordred best, and Joan could turn any attack around again.
"So, Gawain was right a version of father and shieldy is the enemy, though what is with the badly made copy?" Mordred as began batting away their attacks, her body continuously bursting with well her version of Mana Burst. And one thing was for certain in Andy's mind that this Mordred was definitely stronger than her own.
"I am not a fucking copy of her, and I'm most definitely superior to that Saintly bitch, you incest bitch!" Joan cursed and insulted in return.
"I would like to say no to that, but I would be lying," Arturia responded. "Sir Mordred, so you too have sided with the Lion King?"
"Yep, though only as one of Father's Raider Knights, I can't stay in the Holy City during the day, so I am out here most of the time hunting mountain rats. And Father did give me one his Gifts. This one is Rampage allowing me to use my Noble Phantasm over and over again at the cost of burning out my Saint Graph."
"Oh? So is your mother perhaps restoring you over time? Or are you just content being burnt up while your father despises your existence from the high tower?" Andy asked, explicitly trying to incite a reaction out of this Mordred after reminding herself that it was not her Mordred.
"Nah, I've only got a few days left, but that is good enough for this is the only thing Father needs me for, for if Father doesn't hate me after I betrayed him, he wouldn't be Father. That why your version of Father really isn't Father for she looks at me with sorrow and kindness Father wouldn't do that. As for mother, she was summoned to alongside the rest of the knights, but she was killed with the other half when they rejected Father's plan." Mordred said.
"Killed, what do you mean killed? Answer me, Sir Mordred!" Arturia shouted.
"You heard me, Kay, Ector Gaheris and the others all said no and we that said yes cut them all down. And we got our Gifts as a reward, but our Gareth died fighting that Richard guy killing them both," She answered. "The only ones that didn't get summoned was Mr. Sad over there and Shieldy."
"Sir Mordred, what is the Lion King's plan?" Mash asked.
"Not tellin', for if I did, he would get mad and blast me like he did Gawain for letting you get away only luck that he survived. Now you all get blasted Clarent Blood-." Mordred was cut off again as this time, she was headbutted by Gareth slamming her head straight into Mordred's forehead.
"Fuck," She grunted as she stumbled a bit.
"Sir Mordred, thank you for telling me what happened to the version of me that was summoned here, and for that, this Older Sister is about to give her younger one a spanking. Ira Lupus: Rampaging Maiden Wolf!" She shouted the name of Noble Phantasm as she began to deliver a devastating combo of blows to Mordred, finishing up slamming the now blue and shining lance right into her sternum that exploded with magical energy and sent the Knight of Rampage flying into the sky like a particular team of criminals.
"Still brutal as fuck, a wolf hidden beneath a thick layer of cinnamon bun," Ritsuka said as Gareth breathed heavily while striking a triumphant victory pose.
Andy meanwhile whistled at the display. "That was damn impressive...except I don't think that killed Mordred, which means the enemy knows where we are now." She said, her thoughts and words occurring simultaneously and thus spilling out and ruining the moment.
"Yeah, but she has to lick her wounds so she won't be a problem for a long time," Ritsuka hopefully supplied to lighten the mood.
"...Let's call it a win for now and maybe keep a closer eye out for more raiders." Andy said. "If the area's clear, I'd say we head back and strategize over some rice."
"We've got rice? Well, thankfully, I managed to get some meat, I don't know from what kind of animal as it was a Chimera, but if we cook it well it should be good to eat," Arash supplied.
"It should right your Majesty; all meat is good even mystery meat as long as it's been over the fire, right?" Bedivere said.
"Right, I have said something like that," Arturia responded with a heavy blush of embarrassment on her face.
"Well, if anyone knows about both Chimera's and cooking, it's me, so I'll cook it." Andy declared, already rolling up her sleeves.
Xxx
"That's a lot of rice," Ritsuka said as they looked at all the rice that was literally being shot into in the air by Touta's bale. Which was then caught by the villagers in various sacks, barrels, their bales, and clay pots.
"Don't tempt me here, Tsuks. I gotta focus." Andy said distractedly as she figured out which parts of the chimera were edible before removing them and either cooking them or preparing to jerky them for later.
"Tsuks? Really?"
"Would you prefer Ruka?" Andy asked as she removed the chimera's stomach. Its fifth stomach.
"No that belongs to a Final Fantasy character, I actually did have a nickname when I was younger as I couldn't pronounce my name properly and it came out as Gudao, which stuck for bit and got refined to Guda latter, so if you're going to nickname use that," He answered as he patted Nobunaga's head heaving brought in the Archer and removing Vlad from the field.
"Got it, Gouda," Andy said, neither realizing the language barrier issue. "So, wanna take bets on how many more hearts this bad boy has?" She asked as she removed another cluster of cobbled together hearts amalgamated to form one big organ, the third of such super-hearts.
"Enough for valentines? Though that is a bit away," He responded.
"Oh, please don't remind me, I've eaten one heart too many for Valentine," Andy said, thinking about the past Valentines and Jackie's… surprising gift, which had almost given her a heart attack, ironically enough.
"Sounds like a diabeticly good time, also thanks Para for putting up that anti-smell bounded field."
"You're welcome," The Alchemist responded as fiddled with the pieces of the Knight Enforcers Mordred had brought along but had been killed by Arash before they had arrived.
"Hey, 'Celsius, got anything conclusive off those guys yet?" Andy asked as she continued butchering the chimera, starting to regret volunteering to do so.
"Well armor itself is made with rather standard mithril which I could easily make myself, but it the animation that has me a bit stumped, like there exist tales of animated armor, but they are usually possessed by Vengeful Spirits, but this is more like life was breathed into the armor itself. But considering we're dealing with a goddess of rather unimaginable strength and power, it is the most likely explanation." He theorized as he spilled some chemicals over a gauntlet to test for some reaction but seemed to get nothing.
"Huh. Isn't that like a familiar, then?" Andy asked as she began pulling out the second set of intestines thicker than her arm. Her demon arm.
"That is the closest description one could give, but they are not connected to the Lion King any way shape or form seemingly only each other, and even then it is minimal like only being able to to tell then they are close by to each other. They are independently made life forms but only as smart as some modern AIs," Paracelsus responded.
"Interesting…" Andy said as she continued pulling out the intestines, and decided enough was enough and swapped out Jeanne for Emiya. "Emiya, please butcher this for me, I need to take a break from this, kthx." She said as she quickly walked away to go wash the blood off, since it was covering her entire arms and most of her front.
Over by the riverbank, a good deal downstream from the village, she found Serenity sitting by the river, watching it flow by. "Oh, hey, Serenity." Andy greeted as she approached the Assassin. "Don't mind me, just got a little messy cleaning up that Chimera."
"Oh Lord Andy, is there something this Hassan can help you with?"
"I came down here to clean up, but I did want to talk to you so two birds, one stone and all that," Andy said, before looking around surreptitiously. "Hey, could you maybe serve as my lookout while I'm doing that too? I just remembered where we are."
"I shall Lord Andy," She said as she took a position that gave her best view of the area.
"Thanks, Serenity," Andy said as she stripped off her undersuit and found a good amount of blood had soaked through and sighed before reluctantly getting in the river to wash the blood off. "So, Serenity." She said after a minute or so of getting the blood off. "I've been wondering. What do you look like under that mask of yours?"
"It is nothing special," She said as she removed the skull mask from her face. "Your body and face far surpasses mine Lord Andy,"
"Oh, that is a lie, and you know it," Andy said, failing miserably to suppress her blush at the compliment, especially now that she could see Serenity's face. "You're way prettier, and you didn't have to grow your body in a lab."
"That is something that is up to the taste of men is it not, but as a woman, you currently surpass me as you would birth strong children while mine would never bring life," She responded. "But that is a path I choose of my own free will, and I do not regret it."
Andy rapidly turned away from Serenity at that comment, unable to deal with being told she could bear strong children (she hadn't even thought about bearing children at all), which unfortunately caused her to slip a bit and lose her footing, causing her to trip and, like a total oaf, hit her head on a nearby rock, dazing her and leaving her victim to the river's current.
"Ah! Lord Andy!" Serenity shouted and, in seconds, had fished her out of the river. "Are you okay?" She asked as her eyes roamed her.
Andy held her hands to the part of her head; she'd cracked open. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, thanks to you. Just need a moment to heal this." She said, able to feel the nanomachines and Fleece at work. In the meantime, she gave Serenity a shaky smile. "Thank you, though, Serenity. I can be a… bit of a klutz sometimes, so that save was very appreciated."
"It was nothing."
"Not in my book, it wasn't," Andy said, moving her hands off her head gingerly as she felt the head wound close up. "Thank you, Serenity." She said, pulling the already close Hassan into a hug.
"You're… welcome… Lord Andy," She responded with a few breaks between her words.
"Is something wrong?" Andy asked as she pulled away from the hug a bit. And then realized she was still basically naked and sopping wet, and proceeded to pull away entirely and bury her face in her hands. "...Sorry."
"Ah, I, I do not mind Lord Andy, you are very soft," She said in a complementary way.
That just managed to make Andy blush even harder. "Th-thanks." Was all she managed to squeak out at that.
"Shall we dry up and return to the others for dinner, you must be hungry, Lord Andy?"
"Yes! Yes, that, I really wanna dig into that rice and Emiya's cooking." Andy said, latching on to the obvious change in subject with impunity, grabbing the undersuit for Tenfold Shields to access the hammerspace and deploying two towels. "Here."
"Thank you," She responded as she dried herself.
Within a matter of moments of awkward silence later, Serenity was dry, and Andy was back in her now clean undersuit which quickly turned into its dress mode, and they quickly made their way back to the village after Andy put the towels away, being sure to give them unique designations because of Serenity's poison.
And they came back to the sight of everyone feasting on the rice and the Chimera meat.
"So what were you two up to?" Ritsuka asked after he noticed the pair.
"Nothing!" Andy said a bit too fast, and then coughed into her fist. "Nothing. I was just cleaning off the blood, and Serenity was keeping guard. Nothing more."
"Ah, oh okay, I totally believe you," He responded with a sly smile as he walked over to the open-air grill that Emiya had projected into existence to cook the chimera.
"Good. As you should." Andy said, embarrassment being killed by a pair of chopsticks at the sight of the food, Andy soon finding herself over by the grill and awaiting her share, the closest she'd ever found herself to drooling while waiting for food. The aroma of the meat, Emiya's expert cooking, and the promise of 'as much rice as she could eat' was like catnip to Andy.
And she enjoyed it, she enjoyed it very much.
Xxx
A/N: *Astolfo in Chaldea laughing as the harem comes together*