PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
-X Atalante X-
Atalante moved through the halls of the Shadow Border at a clipped pace, heading towards the cockpit. It was lucky that the space between Izuku's room and there was so shor-
"Buggery!" Drake's voice hit the lion ears on top of Atalante's head, the voice growling. It hadn't finished echoing in her head before, another voice, more soft spoken, calm and, almost paradoxically, deep, spoke.
"That's the sixth time you've said that in five minutes, Drake," the Captain said.
"Not BLOODY now, Nemo!" Drake snarled.
Atalante supposed that putting the privateer of the British Empire, the woman who had been vital in it becoming such by Setting the Sun, in close proximity with the east indian prince who had lost his home to the same empire was inevitably going to cause some antagonism. She just wished they wouldn't do it near a Heroic Spirit who was by all standards, a young boy.
Stepping into the cockpit, she raked her eyes across it. The submersible had changed significantly since it's time as the Shadow Border, the fusion with the Nautilus and the Hephaestus Klironomia having upgraded the cockpit. Submerged in a sensory deprivation tank below the Paper Moon that made their travel through Imaginary Number Space possible, though ironically she could probably see more in it than she could outside of it, was Da Vinci Lily.
"Hello!" The console closest to Atalante chirped happily in the voice of the younger Da Vinci, while the older one looked up and offered a smile before continuing to type into the console.
"Here to stop Drake and Abby from corrupting Voyager's ears?" Da Vinci asked.
"Is Abigail also being a problem?" Atalante asked.
"Not as frequently as Drake," Da Vinci said, "but when she is, she's putting her to shame."
Drake and Nemo were as far away from each other as possible… or rather, Drake and the real Nemo were. There were several members of the Nemo Marines manning consoles between them, while below them Voyager stood on a stool to reach the console he was sharing with Tesla, humming one of the songs recorded on his golden record without a care in the world. And in front of them, staring out of the front of the ship and skin the palid tone she used when she wasn't hiding her existence as the Silver Key, the bandages over her keyhole shaped third eye removed and staring out into Imaginary Number Space, was Abigail Williams.
"Fu-" Atalante rushed forwards, clapping her hands over Voyager's ears, "-ck! Hard left or we're going to get caught in a current!"
Why was it that the girl responsible for triggering the infamous Salem Witch Trials apparently swore? It didn't make any sense at all!
"Do you require him?" Atalante asked Tesla, who shook his head as an alert went off on the holographic device next to his hand, which he grabbed and glanced at, before typing something into it. Atalante took Voyager's hand, "Come with me, we're going to visit Erice."
"Ok?" Voyager said, tilting his head and following her as Atalante walked out of the room as quickly as possible.
- X Souji X-
A pair of swords clashed in an explosion of sparks, identical blade meeting identical blade before both swordswomen pushed back. Each of them shifted, and preparing to rush forward, aiming for first blood. The preferred method of sparing on the Border.
Souji stared at Okita, waiting for the other her, the "real" her, to blink and fully aware she was doing the same. Finally the Saber class Servant closed her eyes, and the Alter Ego rushed forwards, her katana about to hit Okita before the other blade lashed out on instinct and deflected the sword.
Okita stabbed forwards as Souji stepped to the side, dodging the attack and nicking her… older? Younger? Non-Altered equivalent's cheek. A drop of red liquid slid down, and Okita sighed, sheathing her blade and stepping away to cough into her hand, flecks of blood mixed with the saliva.
"May I face you?" Souji turned, watching the woman with a disturbing resemblance to her, despite the fact that they had lived on opposite sides of the Eurasian world at different times, step into the ring holding a simple longsword. Her armor had been abandoned, as was also standard for the spars. Souji lifted the katana so it was even with her face, and Artoria Alter prepared her sword.
This wasn't going to be easy, the Tyrant King of Knights had a higher Strength and Endurance Parameter than Souji, though admittedly a far lower Agility one. So she was going to need to use lightning speed to win this fight.
They both tensed, and then moved. Souji appeared behind Alter, only for the sword to flash up and deflect the attack. Alter span in place, slashing for Souji and forcing the Counter Guardian back.
"We don't normally see you out of your chambers," Souji said, conversationally. Said chambers were as far away as physically, as much as "physics" applied to the Border anymore when it came to her floors and layout, from where the Knights of the Round Table made their home. They didn't exactly get along with the changed form of their king, and the feeling was fairly mutual. The only person who regularly visited was Iz-
Oh, no.
Was that why Izuku didn't invite anyone into his bed? He was sleeping with her behind everyone's back!?
She needed to talk to An about this, quickly, because that wasn't anywhere on the plans-
No, no, she was being ridiculous. Izuku visited tons of Servants, and it didn't mean he was sleeping with them! It was probably nothing.
But just in case…
"What are you doing out here?" Souji continued on, punching for the Alter's head. She dodged it, swinging for Souji who dodged in turn.
"The Casters wanted to ask me something about Izuku's new staff," Artoria Alter said, conversationally, "and I decided to stop by this area of the ship before departing for the Mess hall. I was hoping, perchance, that one of the other me's Knights were here."
They hadn't asked her or Mash about the staff, as far as she knew…
She definitely needed to talk to An about this.
-X Elizabeth X-
"Eli?" Elizabeth looked up from the tea she was sipping, meeting the eyes of Jack the Ripper. The diminutive Serial Killer was wearing the more… appropriate clothes, Puppy had bought her during the year between the end of the Human Order Incineration Incident and the beginning of the Crypter War, "Where's Mama?"
Elizabeth knew this question was going to come eventually. She had known it from the minute her and Marie had been asked to play with the three children… but that didn't make it any easier. She locked up, swallowing. And then Marie stepped in, sipping her tea before putting it down, "Your Mama has been sick, Jackie. He's staying in his room until he feels better."
"Père's ill?" Jeanne Alter Santa Lily, "Jasl" asked, looking up. Her golden eyes were immediately filled with worry, "How?"
"He took a rather bad injury in the final Lostbelt," Marie said, smiling at them as her hand shook, just enough for Elizabeth to notice, "He's… he's doing his best to recover."
"Can we go see him?" Elizabeth breathed in at the words from Nursery Rhyme. The white haired Reality Marble-Servant sipped her tea, "he'd probably be-"
"No," Elizabeth said, sharper than she meant to by far, before breathing in, "Puppy… he doesn't want you to worry, so he said you shouldn't come by. He'll come back to the tea parties when he's feeling better, we promise… I, I need a minute alone, excuse me."
Elizabeth stepped out of the room, breathing in and closing the door, she sank to the ground. She ppushed the button on her communicator, waiting for the girl she was calling to pick up. Finally, Mash answered, "Hello?"
"Hi," Elizabeth said, tail trailing as she hesitated, "...How's Puppy?"
"Senpai is… Paracelsus says it might take longer for him to wake up then he expected. The graft was more strain than they were expecting," Mash said.
Elizabeth's stomach dropped at that, "How much longer?"
"A week or two," Mash said, "Asclepius is preparing some form of medicine to slow the muscle atrophy."
"Ok," Elizabeth swallowed, "Ok… I- hey!"
Elizabeth looked up as her arm was pulled up as Jeanne Alter grabbed the arm with her communicator and forced it up, literally lifting the smaller and (unfortunately) weaker Servant off the ground by the arm, gripping one of the katanas she had taken to carrying below the blackened and twisted form of the sword of Saint Catharine, "Then why the hell didn't they wait until he was awake to do it?"
"Ja-?" Mash started, before answering the Question, "Senpai blacked out for a few days the last time they did it. They hoped by doing so while he was unconscious, they could avoid it… it didn't work."
"Obviously," Jalter spat, dropping Elizabeth and stomping away, "I'm coming to see him."
"Are you-"
"I'm coming to see him, Mash!" Jalter barked, before turning the corner.
"Sorry," Elizabeth said.
"It's fine…" Mash sighed, "I'll leave you to get back to the tea party."
"Yeah," Elizabeth sighed, only to meet Jasl's eyes.
"Père's hurt, isn't he?" the smaller form of Jeanne Alter asked, blinking back tears, "He's not sick, he's hurt again…"
"Yes," Elizabeth admitted quietly, "Yes."
She caught the hug from the child Servant seconds later.
-X Jeanne Alter X-
Jeanne Alter stepped out of the elevator, moving to shoulder her way past the Servants standing in her way, ignoring Fuuma Kotarou and Katou Danzo as they stepped into the elevator and descended away. She stormed towards Asclepius, who just gave her an exasperated look as she came closer, "Before you strike me, it wasn't my idea."
Jalter stopped, her grip on the Sword of Saint Catharine not letting up, "Then whose was it?"
"The original contingency was put into place by Izuku himself," Asclepius said, "and a vote from the other members of the newly instated quadrumvirate outweighed my protests two to one. So the surgery was done despite me disagreeing with it. You can step in and see him, if you wish."
Jalter did just that, walking in and towards Mash and Izuku. Her grip on her sword tightened as she looked down at the unconscious Master. He looked so weak, his left leg propped up on a pillow and medical supplies hooked up to him.
She reached out, touching the muscles of his upper body and tracing them carefully, hand stopped over the scar on his right side from where Sut-Typhon had run him through.
"He's an idiot," Jalter choked out, sitting down.
"He wants to be able to help us," Mash said.
"That doesn't make him any less of an idiot," Jalter said, "I'm going to stay here and watch him for a bit. Go grab some food."
"Are you-?"
"Go!" Jalter barked, before breathing in and waiting for Mash to leave. Once she was gone, Jalter let tears prick her eyes.
What the hell was she supposed to do, with Izuku gone? Who was she supposed to watch anime with, and laugh at how similar things at Chaldea were at times?
-X Anastasia X-
Anastasia stopped watching Skadi take her turn carving runes into the golden branch the Sage-King of Heroes had supplied… after some half hearted grumbling. As he had admitted, the trees it had been taken from had been far more massive than anything that existed in the modern day, and he had plenty of it.
But he had to keep up appearances, and that meant complaining about giving up a piece of his treasury even if he didn't actually care all that much. A small gift to one of the King's most valuable subjects wasn't anything of note, considering Izuku didn't ask much of him often.
They were each taking turns carving incantations of fire into the wood, starting with the most recent languages at the center and getting older and more esoteric as you got further down the weapon. Which meant, as a recent Caster, her version of Russian was very nearly in the dead center. She tried to console herself with the fact that that would be almost assuredly where Izuku would grip it. Finally, Sherlock Holmes's voice came over the intercom, "If the Okita Soujis, Utsumi Erice, Artoria Alter, Jeanne Alter, Mash, Edmond Dan- fine, the Count of Monte Cristo, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, Atalante and Ereshkigal would report to the briefing room, it would be deeply appreciated."
Anastasia glanced at the group, before gently sheathing the tanto she had been using Viy to scrawl words into and standing up. The call had sent all the Casters into a flurry of muttered confusion. One cut off as Da Vinci II came on after him, "Everyone, we have a lock. Prepare for surfacing from the Imaginary Numbers Space within the hour."
A silence like a bomb fell across everyone as they breathed in. Anastasia felt Viy rise up around her for a second, his Mystic Eyes opening a fraction of an inch. She pushed him back down quietly, and began walking towards the elevator. Stepping in, she petted her doll's head as it ascended.
Slowly, everyone joined her in the elevator, though Souji was giving Artoria a strange look, before the door opened and they stepped out on the first floor, walking into the briefing room where Sherlock was holding his head with his remaining arm, Avicebron fiddling with the prosthetic he had made.
"I'll get this back to you within the day," Avicebron said, stepping out of the room. Sherlock looked up, offering them a smile.
"Please, sit down. We have a fair bit to discuss."
-X Mash X-
Mash watched Sherlock rub his eyes again, "Are you alright, Detective?"
"Just a migraine, my dear," Sherlock said with a smile, "say what you will of the King of Gods, but he was nothing if not through when he cursed someone. For each one Medea Lily breaks, two seemingly benign enchantments are triggered and reveal themselves to be curses and we must use Pain Breaker again. She believes we're starting to reach the end of them, but it's been like that for weeks now. Anyways, let's get to business, shall we?"
"Yes," Artoria Alter said, rapping her fingers on the hilt of Excalibur Morgan, which lay next to her seat, "Why did you call us here, Holmes?"
"I would hope I didn't need to say that," Sherlock said, tapping a button on the table with his good arm. As much as keeping his Saint Graph off the record had helped, it also hindered him to some extent as they couldn't risk trying to re-summon him. And that meant they had to remove the curses that Surtr and Zeus had inflicted upon him the old fashioned way. A holographic timer appeared, less than an hour hovering in the air and ticking down, "This is the approximate time before we translate out of the Space and back into real space. We have managed to lock onto a signal to allow us to so. If I had to guess, the most likely subject is Izuku's mother, Inko, followed by his father Hisashi, then All Might…"
"And then?" Alter drawled, resting her head on her fist. Sherlock had definitely sounded like he was going to carry on.
"...No, it's not important," Sherlock said, shaking his head, "As I was going to say… We need a team of you to exit the Border when we arrive."
"Detective?" Mash blinked. What… Why?
"We need to find a convergence of Ley Lines," Sherlock said, "and you're either closest to Izuku and know the most about this world, capable of supplying your own mana until you find one, or both."
"So a team of four?" The Count said, leaning against the wall, "Mash, Alter, Jeanne and I?"
"Hey!" The Okitas cried as one.
"What about me?" Anastasia said.
"You can't supply your own mana," The Count said, "it's nothing personal, but we're less likely to strain Izuku if we exit the Border than you."
"He has a point," Atalante said, nodding.
"I… Yes, he does," Ereshkigal said.
"But I want to see the world," Anastasia whined, though Mash was sure she would deny it if accused.
"And I want to stay with Senpai," Mash said, only for Anastasia's head to snap towards her.
"I can stay," Anastasia said.
"But you-" Mash started, before Sherlock coughed into his hand.
"Mash, you're the one person who it wasn't optional," Sherlock said, "You're the closest to Izuku, and know the most about the world. We need you to go."
Mash bit her lip, wanting to refuse anyways, before nodding, "Alright."
"Then I'll trust you four," Sherlock said, "And Anastasia, Okita, Souji, Ereshkigal… I'm sure Izuku will have time to show you the world once he wakes. Now, if you could each step out so I can continue the briefing, it'd be appreciated."
- X The Count X-
The Count leaned against the wall as those not going on the mission filtered out. Finally, once they were out and the door shut, he spoke, "You think there's a real chance we're going to have to fight."
Holmes curved one eyebrow, looking like he wanted to tent his fingers if he had both hands, "What makes you think that, Dantès?"
The Count stared at him, eyes flashing and Monte Cristo Mythologie burning along his arms. Holmes sighed, "Count?"
"The Servants I listed aren't necessarily those closest to Izuku," The Count said. He wasn't going to admit it in front of them, but he was of the opinion that Izuku was closer to Anastasia and either of the Okita Soujis then he was to either of the Alters in the room. He was probably closer to Ozymandias, in his opinion… though he might be a bit biased, "They were the four Servants who could engage in combat without straining Izuku before we got access to the Ley Lines. Mash's Magic Circuits, Alter's Draconic Core, and Jeanne and I's Mana Replenishment, on top of Monte Cristo Mythologie in my case, means so long as we don't resort to Noble Phantasms-"
"Monte Cristo Mythologie is a Noble Phantasm," Jeanne Alter said.
"And one that lets me draw Mana from the world," The Count said without breaking stride, "I was speaking of Enfer Château d'If for myself. If we don't resort to those, we shouldn't strain Izuku even if we must engage someone. So you suspect that we will have to."
"I wouldn't take it that far," Holmes said, "but Izuku's comments on his world haven't made it sound overly hospitable. It's certainly no Singularity or Lostbelt, but the world has active clashes between men and women as strong as Magi near constantly… and that's not including other factors."
"Like?" Jeanne said, her hand gripping the sword of Saint Catherine and carefully thumbing the pommel.
"Izuku has Magic Circuits," Holmes said, "How can we say with absolute certainty that the world doesn't have others who have gained the ability to use them?"
"Magi," Artoria said.
"Magi," Holmes agreed seriously, "they may take exception to you attempting to access the Ley Lines. Disabuse them of that notion, preferably peacefully… but Izuku and Chaldea are relying on you."
Izuku first, the Count noted. Holmes clearly knew where Artoria, Jeanne and his priorities were.
"And try to get a basic lay of the land while you're out," Holmes said, "We don't know how much has changed while Izuku was gone.
-X Anastasia X-
Anastasia practically glided over the floor, ice forming in front of her and then shattering behind her as she headed towards Izuku's room. Behind her, she heard Souji easily keeping pace, "We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Alteria."
"...Who?"
"Artoria Alter?" Souji offered.
"We're not using Alteria," Anastasia said, "it sounds too close to Altera."
"Good point," Souji nodded, "...So, why was she asked about Izuku's staff… and when did it change from a cane to a staff?"
"When Ozymandias decided to get involved," Anastasia grumbled, "and we were asking her if we could-"
"You should kiss him," a familiar, annoying voice said from Izuku's room. Souji and Anastasia shared a look, before throwing open the door to the room. A girl about Anastasia's age was shaking a metal cage with one hand, sending a small box within flying. The box was yelping, "Hey, Hey! I was joking Gray! It was a joke!"
"It wasn't funny," Gray said, dropping Add onto the desk and shifting Izuku so his head was in her lap… and picked up a brush. Oh, well that wasn't worrying. Someone needed to take care of Izuku's hair if they didn't want to shave it off when he woke, and Gray was good at taking care of other people's hair.
The girl with grey hair mixed with blond locked up as she noticed them, before pulling up her hood and steadfastly refusing to look at Souji. They looked nearly identical, and almost everyone on the Border was aware that Gray was self conscious of the fact that there were so many people with almost the same face as hers…
Especially when there had been a time where her face wasn't near identical to that of the King of Knights. Izuku not paying attention to that had probably earned Gray's loyalty.
It didn't matter who you were or how you had lived, if you hadn't harmed children, Izuku was willing to offer you a chance. Maybe it was because of his Origin, and maybe it was slightly inhuman, but it was who Midoriya Izuku was.
Anastasia glanced around the room, eyes skipping over the gun case with an uncomfortable shifting before locking onto the three maps on the wall over his desk. Two of them were of the entire earth, and one of those was marked with seven red circles for each Lostbelt, dates and locations next to each one, an X through all but the last. Grabbing a red marker, Anastasia carefully scored through the South American Lostbelt while Souji took a seat next to Gray. The second map of the world had red push pins across it, with a few blue ones. Hawaii, Las Vegas, Ireland were blue, and red…
Paris, Moscow, New York, Rome, Venice, Tokyo.
Places to see with Mash, was scrawled under it in katakana.
Anastasia bit her tongue, trying to fight the cold jealousy. Mash had been Izuku's first friend in Chaldea, had known him for longer than anyone among the Servants, but that didn't make Anastasia particularly happy about the place Mash held in Izuku's heart at times.
The third map was one of Italy, a single point in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Back to the Beginning with the Count. Summer after we beat B VII? Plenty for everyone to do in Italy and France.
Anastasia tore her eyes away, sitting next to Izuku and settling down to watch him with Gray and Souji.
- X Ramesses X-
Ramesses stepped into his temple, sighing as he settled into one of the thrones and gesturing for Nitocris to sit in the less resplendent one across from him as he placed the pieces on the board for a game of senat.
"My Lord?"
"Yes?" Ramesses promptly, moving a piece.
"Why did you decide to help craft Izuku's Mystic Code?"
Ramesses stood on his chariot, staring out over the parted red sea. For a single moment, Moses glanced back and their eyes met. His grip on his staff tightened.
Amun-her-khepeshef...
He wouldn't want this, would he? He wouldn't want his father and uncle devolving into a cycle of retaliation and vengeance.
"We return to Pi-Ramesses!" Ramesses ordered.
"My Lord?"
"Do you think the sorcery that is being used to split the sea cannot be undone?" He said, "If they're willing to risk our mages, risk myself, doing it to leave, they are in all likelihood willing to undo the spell themselves to take us with them if we followed! Let them go."
Ramesses met Moses's eyes for the last time, and inclined his head. Moses gave a wide smile and bowed his, and then turned and led his people across the Red Sea. Ramesses watched as they split apart, hiding his feelings.
How had it ended like this?
"If I didn't know Izuku better, I would think he believes I'm blind," Ramesses said.
"My Lord?"
"He's too kind for his own good, sometimes," Ramesses continued, "I offer him wine every time we play senat, and I always wonder if it will be the time he turns me down. He has little stomach for it, I know… but he worries that refusing my offer would offend me, so he takes it nonetheless. My honor means I cannot not offer a guest, a king in all but name, and a loyal servant refreshments, and it would stain it even more to offer him anything less than the best I have. So I offer, and always expect him to refuse… but he never does."
Moses had been much the same, before their falling out.
"So you decided to help as payment?"
"Payment is a bit much," Ramesses said, "but it is a gift he will actually use, even once he recovers. He humors me, so I will give him something in return, that is all."
-X Mash X-
Mash swallowed as they landed, hand brushing the Sword of Strange Hangings. The wall in front of them swung open, letting the team that was leaving the Border onto a beach that looked more like a dump.
"Ready?" The Count asked.
"I wish Senpai was here," Mash said, "He deserves to be the first person to step on his home again."
"We all wish he was better," the Count said, eyes jumping back into the confines, "let's get this over with quickly, so we can see as much of this for the first time with him.
-X AN X-
Thoughts, questions and opinions? Good? Bad? Meh?