FATE/CATBOX FICTION

Chapter 25: Shrine of Salazere

July, 1976

Darkness washed out any semblance of light and color in Kayneth's vision. The last thing he could remember were dozens of gleaming eyes surrounding him like close-range stars. Some sort of savage hissing sound reverberated throughout the chamber. One of the unknown beasts opened their mouth, revealing a set of polished, sharp ivory teeth that glistened from its fellows' glowing eyes.

Kayneth finally understood what was going on – Enforcer 19-Y had lured him into a trap.

As much as he wanted to curse her for deceiving him, he felt equally as stupid for being played like a fool. The signs were all there; 2-F's crass response to his demand, 19-Y's insincerity, her leading into the Spiritual Tomb's deepest underbelly, being awed by alchemy materials that he definitely would've had interest in owning… Everything had been designed to corner him, and yet he never recognized the danger until it was too late. Maybe, just maybe somewhere in the most obscure corner of his mind, he realized that his arrogance finally caught up to him. But what was such a realization going to do for him now? He was doomed as could be.

… At least, he thought he was.

The next thing Kayneth could remember, he was standing in an apple orchard, with a quaint cottage tucked between the trees. The leaves turned into all sorts of fall colors, and the apples looked ripe for harvesting. The Mage was utterly confused as to why he was here.

"Master," he heard a familiar young man's voice speak behind him.

Kayneth turned around to find Diarmuid nearby. The spearman approached his summoner, then glanced around and asked, "Where are we?"

"I… don't know…" was the shaky reply.

"Are you all right?"

"I don't know…"

Diarmuid understood Kayneth's shock and opted not to ask any more questions. He instead passed by him while saying, "Forgive me for not being able to protect you. I was wholly unaware of what the Enforcers were planning. If I had the foresight, I would have-"

"No. It's fine."

"Master?"

"I did not anticipate how shrewd the upper echelons were. No, I shouldn't say 'shrewd'. It's more like they are… pure evil."

"What does that mean?"

"… What outrage. I was so focused on securing my family's position that I never stopped to think about it. The El-Melloi family did not hold the highest seats of power… and maybe that would have been for the better. After all, my family does not take pride in discarding promising talent so callously. I knew the Grand-rank Mages were capable of eliminating anyone who stood in their way, but to think they regarded me as a mere obstacle as well…"

Diarmuid could only watch as his Master succumbed to total despair. Kayneth raised his hands and started ranting emphatically.

"My god! The prophesized apocalypse could not come any sooner! I don't know what sort of calamity will befall the world, but let it rain fire! Purge the Mages before they can ruin more lives! Destroy the wealth and prestige they cling to so tightly! Give them no place to run to! Then when they are brought to their knees, I will stand over them and laugh at how pathetic they are!"

The Lancer wasn't sure what to say. Normally he wouldn't condone such madness, but he understood how horribly betrayed Kayneth must've felt. He looked away for a moment… then suddenly sprung into action, wielding his dual lances and getting into position in front of Kayneth as he barked, "Master! Please stay back!"

"Wha-?"

The bewildered Mage turned around to see what had alerted his Servant. Standing in the grassy clearing was a small child garbed in a thick black-hooded robe. The hood had some jagged patterns etched on the seams, with a mitsudomoe symbol at the hood's peak over her eyes. A pair of lifeless crimson eyes stared at the two men. It felt like she wasn't really looking at them, but rather through them, akin to a shell-shocked soldier who managed to survive the horrors of World War I trench warfare. Her pure white hair was short, cut precisely where a distinct scar line ran horizontally along her neck. Other than that, there were no other distinct features they could make out of her.

Even so, that was more than enough for Kayneth to bear. He pathetically uttered, "A-Are you… an Enforcer?"

"…"

"You're definitely a Servant, but…" Diarmuid murmured as he stared at the girl's neck scar. "What on Earth happened to you?"

She didn't reply. Neither of them were sure that she could even hear them. Soon though, she raised her arm to the side and pointed. Since they couldn't get any sort of conversation out of this mystery child, both men gazed over to the empty sky surrounding them. Then their minds were muddled with visions that didn't belong to them. It was a surreal experience, like they were sitting in front of a television watching their own lives unfold before them.

The characters that appeared were definitely Kayneth and Diarmuid. However, their actions, behaviors, and experiences were not the same as their own. Due to his knowledge of the Parallel World Gates, Kayneth knew this had to be the events of an alternate universe being shown to him. There were others present; a stoic black-haired man in a trench coat, a lovely white-haired lady, and a gallant blonde-haired knight wielding a sacred sword. Kayneth was bound to a wheelchair, and in his arms was a bandaged and unconscious red-haired woman missing her right hand. Diarmuid had his red spear gouged through his own chest, after being ordered by the alternate Kayneth to commit suicide.

They couldn't hear what was being said between the participants of this gruesome event, but there was plenty of context to understand what was going on. Kayneth saw a piece of paper drop to the ground, with his and the black-haired man's signatures written in blood. Diarmuid immediately knew what it was and uttered, "A geas…"

Kayneth had heard of the geasa before. He knew of his Servant's own geas, and of the geasa possessed by other famous Celtic figures like Cuchulainn, Conaire Mor, and Conchobhar mac Nessa. Usually they were a means of obtaining great power or securing a deal, so long as the vow was upheld. Kayneth was sure that the black-haired man was a killer, so for his counterpart to be alive, he had to have made a deal where the assassin would not kill him in exchange for forcing his Servant to kill himself. However, the black-haired man exploited a loophole that Kayneth's counterpart failed to recognize – that someone else could murder him on the assassin's behalf.

And that was exactly what happened.

Kayneth watched in horror as an unseen sniper fired bullets through his stricken counterpart, causing him and the now-dead red-haired lady to collapse to the ground. Kayneth was still alive, begging for death at this point. The assassin couldn't do anything about it due to the geas, which made the situation even more unbelievably cruel.

The images gradually faded, and both Master and Servant returned to the apple orchard. They looked for the strange child, but she was nowhere to be seen. Kayneth was so disturbed by what he just witnessed that he didn't really care anymore.

"Do you understand now?" they heard the girl's voice echoing around them. A chill coursed through the Mage's spine – her voice sounded freakishly mature for her small stature. She continued in a listless tone, "You are the epitome of someone who believes himself to be entitled by birthright. You are a pitiful, petty narcissist who lives in a bubble, detached from reality and incapable of forgiving others for transgressing you even slightly. No matter which world you are born in, you will never be satisfied. The moment you step outside your bubble to reap the world's rewards for yourself, you wind up being destroyed by all of its evils. It is precisely that arrogance which will ruin you, now and forever, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald."

"Y-You… What do you know?" Kayneth feebly barked.

"I am the Holy Grail Terminal."

"The Holy-?!"

"In my endless years of sleep, I've dreamed of numerous alternate realities. I have seen you multiple times. Without fail, that exact same karma keeps destroying you over and over again. Yet, I have no pity for you. You have no one to blame but yourself for being so closed-minded. Every time you die, I grow more disappointed in your inability to wake up to reality. Even in this world that we live in, once again have you been consumed by the world's hedonism.

"How utterly pathetic you are. But that's just what it means to be a Mage – useless drivel motivated only by their self-preservation. You failed to recognize something so obvious with your fellow Mages, and here you are, reduced to being their next plaything. I have no words to describe how much of a waste of space you are. If you hadn't made that declaration just now, I would have ejected you out of my mental landscape without a second thought."

Kayneth was so insulted and distraught that the words couldn't come to him. Diarmuid asked the girl, "What declaration do you speak of?"

"That the apocalypse could not come soon enough."

Kayneth became surprised and widened his eyes. "Could it be…"

"You assume correctly. I have the power to 'rain fire' upon the Mages who ruined both of our lives. While you may be a Mage that I detest as well, at least I can appreciate the despair that their betrayal has wrought upon you and your numerous counterparts. Therefore, I'm willing to give you an opportunity to justify your suffering."

"Justify my suffering? How?"

"The truth is, I need a little more time to prepare. In about two months or so, I will be ready to unleash the Third Great Catastrophe. However, there is a particular Guardian who will be coming to destroy me. If he reaches me, everything I have worked toward for the last 50 years will be ruined. If you want the Mages to experience the same terror you felt, then it would be in your best interest to safeguard me from this Guardian."

"Pah! Why should I believe this isn't just some new trick to manipulate me!?"

"You're free to assume whatever you want. You don't have to take this offer if you don't want to. The fact remains that you and your Servant will be melded into a forced Pseudo-Servant, whether you like it or not."

"Wha-!?" both men cried out in horror.

"See? If that's going to happen to you anyway, wouldn't you want to make the best of it?"

Kayneth clenched his teeth. Being killed was one thing, but to be reduced to being some mind-controlled Pseudo-Servant that the Mages could use? He wouldn't have it. If he was going to die, he would take the whole damn world with him.

After a hesitant pause, the Mage murmured, "… Who is this Guardian?"

The girl responded, "Does this mean we are in agreement? That you will destroy the Guardian for me, and I will destroy the Mages for you?"

"Yes. As I am right now, I don't have the power to mete vengeance upon those monsters."

"Very well. The Guardian's name is Emiya Kiritsugu. He will be arriving here from a world that is wholly different to the one you just witnessed. However, he has made the vow to never kill Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, which binds him for all of eternity. If he wishes to remain alive to chase his futile dream of 'justice', then he must leave you alive. It does not matter if he remembers ever making that geas with you. In fact, I'd say you have an overwhelming advantage in that regard. Do you understand where I am going with this?"

For once, hope swelled within Kayneth, and a sickening smile stretched from ear to ear. That contemptible man who pulled such an atrocious trick on his counterpart… Instead of being the victim of bad karma, Kayneth was now going to be the one delivering such karma to a deserving villain. Being given the privilege to make Emiya Kiritsugu suffer for his misdeeds would have to satisfy his craving for retribution. From there, he had to trust that the Holy Grail Terminal would wipe out this world's Mages on his behalf.

All this while, Diarmuid just stood there and observed his Master relish in his twisted delight. He didn't want to share in the revelry, but there was a twinge of agreement in him as well. He didn't fully understand what had happened to his own counterpart, but it deeply affected him as well. He had a feeling that he had been fighting a duel of chivalry with the blonde-haired knight, yet had been denied the right to see the battle's proper conclusion due to Emiya Kiritsugu's machinations.

Maybe Diarmuid didn't share in Kayneth's desire to bring calamity upon the world. But at the very least, he would join his Master in making Kiritsugu pay for his sins.


The present…

"Fervor, mei sanguis!"

Long strands of solidified quicksilver shot in front of Kayneth-Diarmuid that acted as a barricade to protect him from an unrelenting round of machine gun bullets. The Pseudo-Servant kept a pair of liquid metal polearms for himself, transformed into replicas of Gae Dearg and Gae Buidhe. Although Volumen Hydrargyrum could not reproduce the spears' curses, they were still effective enough as weapons for the Diarmuid half of the Pseudo-Servant to use. While Kiritsugu was preoccupied with breaching the wall of mercury, Kayneth-Diarmuid leapt over without his opponent noticing until the last second. He plummeted over the surprised Assassin and thrust the Gae Dearg replica at his throat.

Although both Master and Servant had been melded into one being against their will, Kiritsugu noticed that they seemed to be working in harmony with each other. Kayneth was solely focused on defense, allowing Diarmuid to concentrate on offense and evasion. Not only that, each half could keep track of Kiritsugu's movements and warn the other when he was about to strike.

Time Alter: Double Accel!

Kiritsugu activated his Magecraft to accelerate his body's speed, allowing him to sidestep the lethal blow even when it would have been physically impossible at that point. The dodge was so haphazard though that he nearly lost his balance while flipping aside to safety, stumbling on his feet no differently than when someone slipped on an icy sidewalk. Kayneth-Diarmuid saw this and sneered while swinging the Gae Buide replica at Kiritsugu's upper chest, landing a successful strike that carved through the Guardian's torso.

"Shit!" Kiritsugu cursed under his breath. He slid back and gripped his injury with one hand while simultaneously throwing a small knife at his opponent's shoulder. The movement was so quick that he had no time to react, and the blade pierced skin.

To Kiritsugu's shock though, a spontaneous wound suddenly opened up at the exact same spot on his own shoulder! The Assassin glanced at the unexpected injury and yelped, "What the-?"

"Keh… Keh hah hah hah hah! EEE HAH HAH HAH HAH!" Kayneth laughed like a hyena. His facial expression was frightening, warped with a terrible grin framed by bulging veins, as he yelled, "How do you like that, you filthy vermin!?"

"H-How is this possible!?"

"Hmph," Diarmuid spoke through Kayneth's lips. "This is what happens when an amateur takes a geas for granted."

"A geas!? But I never made one!"

"You didn't, but the Grail Terminal was kind enough to show us a version of you that did."

Kiritsugu's eyes widened with sheer horror. Some parallel world version of him did such a ridiculous thing? Then again, maybe it would make sense for him to utilize any sort of tool he could find to kill rouge Mages. He was sure that he must have made the geas with Kayneth knowing there was a flaw in the vow that he could exploit. Kayneth would probably be too gullible to realize it until it was too late. But now, that geas was coming back to punish Emiya Kiritsugu for breaking his agreement during this battle. Whether or not the Guardian version of him made such a vow was obviously irrelevant; the geas was signed in blood, and it had to be upheld for all of eternity.

Kayneth kept giggling uncontrollably, delighted that Kiritsugu understood how helpless he was. He roared, "Have you come to realize that you cannot touch me whatsoever!? Does it fill a hired killer like you with despair that you cannot eliminate Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald!?"

"Ngh!" Kiritsugu growled. If the Grail Terminal showed Kayneth-Diarmuid those events, it had to be so they could catch the Assassin in a trap. The Terminal had to know he was coming to kill the Servant trapped inside it, and she sent the Pseudo-Servant to destroy him. But that didn't make any sense to him. Connla Cliste specifically asked him to come to Akakor and kill her. Why would she suddenly turn around and try to stop him? Did she have a change of heart? Was the Terminal programmed to detect and repel any invaders against her will? Or was there something else going on that he was wholly unaware of?

"Scalp!" Kayneth-Diarmuid shouted, transforming the spear replicas into thin whips that thrashed about everywhere. They were strong enough to carve through the shrine's stone walls, and Kiritsugu certainly didn't want to find out what would happen if they struck him. He couldn't afford to waste any time worrying about what Connla Cliste was thinking when he needed to fight an opponent he couldn't kill.

This is bad… he thought as he ducked under a flailing whip of quicksilver. If I fall here, that leaves only Iri to fight three Servants on her own. I could try and fight that other Servant, but this one seems dead set on destroying me himself. Not only that, but I doubt Iri would be strong enough to defeat this monstrosity herself.

He mentally kicked himself for being too obstinate about handling this mission on his own. If he had brought at least one or two more Servants from Chaldea, this wouldn't be a problem whatsoever. Even if they were fellow Assassins who kept to themselves like he did, at least it would have been better than this. Alas, Kiritsugu could not wallow in his regrets when he had to concentrate on parrying and dodging Kayneth-Diarmuid's onslaught of spear swipes and whip lashes. Making things worse was that the earlier barrier Kayneth erected dispelled itself and joined the fray as snake-like tendrils that threatened to puncture every inch of Kiritsugu's flesh. He had no choice but to brandish his Thompson Contender and fire a single shot at the Pseudo-Servant's leg. Kayneth anticipated this and wrapped Volumen Hydrargyrum around the targeted leg, completely blocking the bullet.

While Kayneth-Diarmuid was busy defending himself though, Kiritsugu activated his Innate Time Control ability and accelerated it to the highest level. This wouldn't have been possible when he was alive, but as a Servant, he could accelerate his internal clock to the point that it was considered a Noble Phantasm. This was beyond the highest confirmed level of Time Alter: Square Accel, but it consumed a lot of Kiritsugu's magical energy to execute.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may… Chronos Rose!"

The Assassin literally blinked out of Kayneth-Diarmuid's view, then assaulted him from every side with an imperceptible barrage of knife slashes. He was moving so quickly that it produced the illusion of him being in multiple places at one time, like a rose losing all of its petals from a powerful gust of wind. Kiritsugu finished the barrage by loading his pistol with a fresh bullet and firing it through the Pseudo-Servant's upper back.

Unfortunately, countless identical wounds burst open on Kiritsugu's body, coating his already red clothes in blood. The worst injury was the duplicated bullet that punctured his ribcage and lung, causing both men to cough up blood and fall to their knees in agony.

"Y-You… cur…" Kayneth cursed his hated foe. He wasn't used to enduring a paper cut, never mind so many gross injuries at one time, so he was too much in shock to retaliate.

Kiritsugu could only bite his lip and focus on regaining his senses. Although the Noble Phantasm was a huge risk for him, he decided to take it anyway. He restrained his killing intent enough to keep Kayneth-Diarmuid alive, but wanted to at least incapacitate him so he wouldn't go after Irisviel. Although he hated it, all Kiritsugu could do now was wait to see how Irisviel would handle battling her own opponent.


The sound of a hawk's cry resounded throughout the shrine. A bird comprised entirely of magical energy weaved out of Irisviel's hair swooped toward 22-Q. The Enforcer wasn't impressed with the Caster's display, boredly sidestepping the bird's attack and watching as it turned around and rapidly dove in. The magical avian reached its talons out to try and slit 22-Q's throat. Suddenly, her spear was thrust into the creature's belly, stopping it in mid-flight. However, the bright white hair untangled and knitted itself around the polearm, gradually reaching for the Alter Ego's arms in an attempt to bind her.

Her gaze was vapid and condescending, as if she was saying, "You can't be serious," to Irisviel with just her eyes. As the hair began tangling around 22-Q's fingers, an Ansuz Rune flashed bright red on the tip of the spear. A spontaneous fiery explosion blasted around the magic bird, disintegrating it and the hair trap. Although surprised, Irisviel refused to let up with creating more constructs. This time she generated a bevvy of longswords that shot for 22-Q while she was hiding in the smoke. The plumes immediately rushed out in a concentric circle as the Enforcer used a quick wind spell to clear the area, allowing her to see the incoming swords and deftly dodge them with gymnastic flips.

"Týr er æinendr ása, opt værðr smiðr blása," she murmured while balling her hand into a fist. A Rune in the shape of an upward-pointing arrow formed over the hand.

Irisviel didn't like where this was going. She could sense an incredible amount of mana being concentrated into 22-Q's fist. Although the Enforcer could only maintain it for a few seconds, it was potent enough to rival even a Berserker's mightiest punch. The Alter Ego lunged for the Caster and slammed her fist upon the ground she was standing on. Unable to get out of the way in time, Irisviel spread her arms out and used the Holy Grail inside her to generate a thin membrane field around her entire body. This was her Child of Nature skill, the symbol of her status as a homunculus, which functioned as a blessing that protected her from all forms of danger.

The enhanced punch struck Irisviel's chest. If she had not shielded herself in time, she would have been reduced to a bloody pulp smeared all over the shrine. Instead, she clenched her teeth and struggled to remain on her feet. The force of the Tiwaz Rune quickly blasted her off her feet and caused her to tumble about 50 meters along the stone ground. Although stunned and thoroughly sore, Irisviel would survive.

As 22-Q dispelled the Rune and landed, Irisviel sluggishly got onto her side and grunted, "Why… Why are you doing this?"

The Enforcer refused to reply.

"Please tell me, Connla!" the Caster desperately implored. "If you really are Lancer of Akakor, then Kiritsugu is here to end your suffering, just as you asked of him!"

A fusillade of small fireballs shot for the stricken woman. She buried her head against the ground in terror as she waited for the deafening barrage to end. The sound of raining pebbles resounded around the two women as 22-Q snapped, "Don't ever say that name again, homunculus. Not unless you don't mind being disintegrated faster than one can blink."

"Gngh…"

"Besides, you're sorely mistaken about something. I'm not the Lancer you're looking for. I'm an Enforcer – an Alter Ego Servant born from Mother's fractured psyche."

"An… Alter Ego?"

"I'm little more than a creature tailored to serve the Mages' needs. Until the time is right, my duty is to protect those impotent sloths as they grow fatter and stupider from the Grail Terminal's bounties."

Irisviel narrowed her eyes, then said, "What is going on here? Even if you're just an offshoot of the original Lancer, why would you serve the Mages who betrayed her so cruelly? Shouldn't you be rebelling against this system like we are?"

"I'm just a small cog in the huge mechanism known as Akakor. My opinion wouldn't hold weight if you tied it down with cinder blocks."

"That doesn't mean you should just stand back and do nothing!"

"I'm an Enforcer. I'm programmed to follow orders, not to question them. Besides, no one has the power to fight back against a world that is catered to Mages… Or rather, to a world that has been converted into a sadist's playground."

"A sadist's playground?" the Caster murmured. She recalled the reports she heard from the other teams, then said, "You mean with Rider of Akakor, don't you?"

"Hmph," the Alter Ego snarled, then spun her spear to deflect a quick bevvy of magical swords that Irisviel weakly launched her way. Her fury seemed to swell beneath the surface, evidenced by the seething glare in her grey eyes as she growled, "What you call the 'Extremist faction' would have just been an ordinary group of disgruntled Mages who were frustrated about having Sealing Designations placed on them. They were all warped and made to believe in an ideal world where they could be free to do whatever they pleased to advance their research – all courtesy of a burgeoning cult of personality that centered around Marquis de Sade's practices."

"A cult of personality…"

"If you're a rogue Mage who wanted to tear down the stigmas of morals and ethics placed by Conservative Mages, who would you want to act as the focal point of your demented crusade? Sure, there are plenty of candidates, but there's no one more suitable than the namesake of sadism himself. His summoning into the Akakor Grail War must have been a godsend for the Extremists. They would be able to foist all of their sins onto his shoulders and expect him to destroy the foundations of this world's Magecraft society. For his part, Sade was more than happy to comply if it meant fashioning a debauched paradise for himself as well. Ironically, once the original morals and ethics were destroyed, the Mages who once enforced such rules were corrupted by the allure of doing whatever they wanted without fear of consequences. Honestly, it's enough to make you sick, isn't it?"

Irisviel scowled in disgust.

"But soon, this farce will come to an end," 22-Q coldly declared as she approached her fallen opponent, wielding her spear with the intent to maim her to death. "Though I am powerless to rebel against this world, it is an entirely different story for Mother. Her quest to purge the multiverse of this blighted, sadism-riddled world will come to fruition."

"How is she going to do that?"

"That's not for you to know, interloper."

"If this continues, she's going to cause a Singularity! Even if she can't forgive the Mages for turning her into the Grail Terminal, she should at least realize the consequences of her own actions! If you really love your Mother, you would try to-!"

"Spare me the sermons. I will support Mother's crusade to the bitter end, and make the Mages suffer for their transgressions. All you have to do is die for interfering with her efforts. The fact that you're a Mage created inside a test tube will make slaughtering you all the more satisfying."

As 22-Q edged closer to her target, Irisviel shifted her eyes toward Kiritsugu and Kayneth's battle. She saw that both Servants were covered in countless bleeding injuries, meaning that Kiritsugu was unable to come rescue her. Despite the danger she was in, Irisviel wished she could run over and heal him, but her body refused to obey her commands due to the sheer pain she was in.

The Enforcer stood over her opponent, then calmly raised her spear and prepared to drop the blade upon Irisviel's neck.


Waver, Iskandar and Lexy journeyed through the Gate back to Akakor. That familiar soul-draining rush coursed through Waver's body for a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity to him. When he felt his feet touch solid ground, he stumbled onto his knees and gasped for air. It was still difficult for him to get used to jumping through parallel worlds, but his body seemed to be more adjusted to it this time compared to the jump in Luxembourg. At least he didn't feel like vomiting his insides, which was a good sign for him.

"Hmm?" Iskandar mumbled curiously as he glanced around. He noticed that they were inside some sort of long-abandoned laboratory or research facility. "Where have we wound up this time?"

"Don't worry," Lexy assured him. "We've successfully returned to Akakor in our world. I set our destination to be an abandoned Mage's workshop that still had a functioning Gate. That way there wouldn't be any worry of us being ambushed while Mr. Velvet is exhausted. As an added bonus, it's situated near Salazere, where Ruler of Akakor is located."

"Ahh! Excellent foresight as always, my girl!"

Waver eventually regained his bearings and shakily stood up. Growing concerned for him, Lexy asked, "Are you going to be okay? Maybe you should wait here while Lord Iskandar and I go to Salazere."

"No, I'm all right. I just need a bit to recover."

"Well, the walk through the labyrinth should be enough. But once we're there, I have a gut feeling that the situation is going to become too chaotic for you to enjoy any more rest."

"Geez, would you stop worrying so much? Seriously, I'm going to be fine."

"All right then…"

Zhuge Liang interjected, "I'll keep an eye on the lad's vitals. If I feel he needs to retreat, I'll take over his vessel and act accordingly."

"Hey! Don't say something like that when I'm able to hear you!" Waver shouted at the strategist.

"Can you blame me? My safety completely hinges on yours, you know."

"For crying out loud…"

"Geh heh heh heh heh!" Iskandar bellowed a hearty laugh. "If we have the energy to be uppity with each other, then let's use it to begin our march toward Salazere! I can hardly wait to begin turning Akakor into my new Macedonia!"

"Wait a minute," Waver stopped his eager Servant. "Lexy just called it a 'labyrinth', didn't she? Do we have any way of navigating it without getting lost?"

Lexy nodded. "Not to worry. We Enforcers are programmed with detailed maps of Akakor in our memory banks. With the information I have, we should arrive at our destination in approximately eight to ten minutes."

"Gee… No wonder the Mages are so dependent on you guys. It's like you have everything right at your fingertips."

She looked down despondently and murmured, "I guess so…"

Even though he was trying to compliment her, he noticed how forlorn she became. Given how she behaved whenever she was like this, he suspected she was hiding something important from him. He knew this wasn't the time for such prodding though. He needed to focus on the mission at hand, then find an opportunity to ask her questions later. For now, the group left the abandoned workshop behind and proceeded into Akakor's ancient mazes.

Iskandar glanced around at the confining walls and muttered, "Such a shame I can't use Gordius Wheel in such cramped quarters. Nothing would be more fitting than boldly invading enemy territory on my finest chariot."

"Are you for real!?" Waver shouted indignantly. "You heard what Lexy said, didn't you!? We'll be there in just ten minutes! Can't you be patient even for just that long!?"

"Come now, it's not just about making good time. Making a triumphant entrance is just as important for shaking the enemy morale!"

"Now look here-!"

"Lord Iskandar, if I may," Lexy interrupted them. "Our primary objective is to speak with Mr. Sanson, not to overthrow him. I would like to approach him with peaceful intentions as much as possible. I will inform you if negotiations are not successful, so that you can seize Salazere with force if necessary. Is that an agreeable proposition for you?"

"Hm," the Macedonian king muttered dubiously. He pointed to himself and asked, "I know we're not trying to fight against Akakor, but doesn't having me around make it a declaration of war anyway? I am a king infamous for my conquests, after all."

"Maybe you could remain in spirit form during the discussion."

"Forget it, Lexy," Waver grumbled in annoyance. "Rider hates shifting into spirit form. He can't rampage other people's property like some bull in a china shop if he's stuck as a ghost. If anything, he'll stick around to pitch in his meat-headed opinions and cause more trouble for us."

"Good to see you understand me so well, lad," Iskandar grinned.

Lexy sighed, then murmured, "I see… Well, let's be careful anyway. Recklessness is not always the path to victory."

They proceeded through the labyrinth in silence. Waver became spooked when he saw old bones and skulls littered about. The two Servants weren't as perturbed though, so the teenager remained behind them in case some monster was lurking about. Not even two minutes in though, he started to realize just how eerily calm the maze was. For some reason, the lack of danger seemed more disturbing than knowing there was something stalking them. The stillness was so profound that he could start to pick up even the slightest of sounds from the distance, like dripping water or a tiny pebble being dislodged from the wall.

That was why Waver suddenly stopped and asked the others, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lexy wondered.

Waver cupped his hand around his ear and listened again. A moment later, Iskandar leaned in and muttered, "I don't hear anything. Maybe it's just your imagin-"

"Be quiet!"

The burly man clammed up and let his Master continue listening to the silence. About 30 seconds later, Waver blurted, "There it is again!"

Lexy tilted her head and asked, "What's there again?"

"I think it's gunfire!"

"Really!?"

"No mistaking it! How far is it from Salazere!?"

"Just a few more halls and we're right there!"

"Let's step on it! I think someone's beaten us to the punch!"

"Oh ho! This is getting exciting!" Iskandar bellowed. "Boy, you stay behind me and Lexy! Now that we have competition, there's no telling what's going to happen!"

"Right!"

With that, the trio hurried through the remainder of the maze toward Salazere's entrance. As they got closer, even the Servants started to hear the sounds of combat echoing through the halls. With one last turn around a corner, they finally arrived at the long staircase leading upward to Salazere. None of them wasted any time standing on ceremony, and they barged up to their destination.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

† - "Tyr is a one-handed god, often has the smith to blow." The Runic poem associated with the Tiwaz Rune. The term 'blow' refers to blowing on the coals to make them hot for smithery. Tyr is a god of Norse mythology representing justice, law, and courage to overcome obstacles.