Cats & Dogs

by Currumpaw

Entering the Holy Grail War was the last thing on my to-do list when I came to Romania, on vacation no less. But here I am, with a Servant, and neck-deep into the war. And to top it all off, I don't even have a wish to make on the stupid cup even if I win the damn thing. I swear, it's as if someone is taking my life and turning it into their own personal theatre... Apocrypha AU

8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII

Renting transport to Trifas was no trifle and neither was establishing a hideout for Atalanta and I. We found a rather large cave in a hillside, which apparently used to be home to a bear, but said beast seemed to have died of old age and no other creature seemed to have moved in after its vacancy due to the fact its skeleton remained untouched. Which was surprising given that it was near a leyline. I would've figured that an animal instinctually seeking mana would've taken advantage of the vacancy. Nonetheless, Atalanta buried the bear's bones somewhere out of respect, which didn't surprise me.

In Atalanta's legend, a she-bear was sent by Artemis to nurse the infant Atalanta until a band of hunters happened upon her. Due to my connection with her, I saw in a dream that Artemis went to Atalanta in person before summoning a bear to nurse her. I wonder if that's how Atalanta told her own story way back when omitting the fact that a goddess saved a mortal infant in person so as to not raise envy amongst the populace. After all, back when the gods and goddesses of Greece typically descended from their mountaintop fortress of Olympus it was due to one of three reasons; they were either angry at some mortal, bored and wanted to screw with a mortal, or they were horny and wanted to screw a mortal.

While Atalanta had gone off to bury the bones of the bear, I went to work setting intricate lines of runes to create bounded fields to abate animals from the cave, to draw off any humans, and hide the cave from any eyes, mystical in origin or otherwise. It would suck if I had to kill a mundane guy just because he wandered into the wrong cave at night. Sure, I could just blame it publically on the local fauna after throwing the corpse into either a bear's territory or a wolves' den, but even I find it all distasteful sometimes. That and sometimes it's too much effort.

"Where'd you bury the bear?" I asked Atalanta upon feeling her presence as she materialized behind me.

"Beneath a great oak tree," she replied. "A strong tree for a strong animal. It seemed fitting, does it not?"

"It is," I nodded.

"It is fortuitous that we found this cave," she commented, giving it a look around, "easily defendable, hard to find, and it even has a spring not too far from here."

"Oh?" I looked over my shoulder with my brows raised, "that is indeed fortunate, with clean water like that, we won't need to touch the potable water we brought except for emergencies."

"Indeed," she nodded before looking to the woods and materialized her bow, "I will continue scouting the forest surrounding our temporary abode. I simply wished to inform you of the spring and see your progress of concealing the cave."

I blinked, "Uh, Atalanta, you know you could've told me via the mental link for that."

"Indeed I could," she shrugged, "however, after spending time with you and Lin, I found it more comfortable to do so in person."

I blinked once, then twice before grinning. "You forgot that you could, didn't you?"

"I- of course not!" Atalanta turned her nose at me.

But I saw her blushing cheeks, damning evidence of her embarrassment.

"Mmm, okay then," I chuckled, shaking my head before returning to my work, letting her get away with it, "Once I'm done with this, I'll be setting up everything up in our camp and get my workshop running while I'm at it. Oh, while you're out, can you keep note if there are any safe, edible plant life around? Given the mana rich grounds due to the leyline, the flora here should be quite healthy."

"I'll keep an eye out then, I'll see you later," she said before I felt her dematerialize.

Shaking my head in minute amusement, I continued in my runecraft while humming a tune under my breath. Once I finished setting my runecraft, I went to the bags to set up camp. Upon finding the cave, I realized it wouldn't just be a good place to camp, but also set up a small base of operations, it was large enough to fit some things. So, after finding it, I began compiling a list of things we would need to make it a base; portable generators, a portable stove and grill, a set of cots, sleeping bags, open tents in case moisture collected on the cave ceiling and dripped down, portable tables, a portable counter. The temperature was decent during the day, though I was sure come nighttime that would change. Though it was a pain lugging all this gear around, it had taken a few trips from Trifas and back, necessitating the rental purchase of a truck, it was worth it.

My temporary workshop on the other hand was a lot easier to set up. On top of one of the tables was a small shelf containing a few books on runecraft and reinforcement. All the copies of my ancestors' notes on the Ashford family magecraft and copies of my own personal notes over the subject were locked away in the one place a magus would never look, one of my laptops that sat in its corner on the table. Also on the table was some space cleared that was designated to be my workbench with tools, both mundane and magical within arm's reach, to allow me to perform maintenance on my 5.7 Custom, Custom Eagle, and Mugetsu.

Once everything was set up, I stretched my back and looked at my handiwork. It had taken a few hours to assemble everything and decide their placement, but looking at it all, a thought occurred to me. What was I to do with it all after the war was over? It would be a hassle taking it all back to civilization, but I wasn't one to waste purchases after not having an immediate need. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at a certain pocket on my backpack. I could toss all of it into that…

"Ah, well," I said to myself, stretching once more, giving a small grunt whenever the vertebrae in my spine cracked, "a problem for another day." I looked toward the cave mouth to get a glimpse of the time of day from daylight. Of course, I could've simply used my smartphone to check the time, but overreliance and laziness breeds careless complacency. From the orange glow of the daylight, it was going to be dusk soon. The old man Necromancer should be arriving in Romania soon, probably today if the freelancer was fast. But then, he'd probably be more concerned with summoning his Servant first. Heading over to my workshop I booted up my laptop.

"Is this what passes for a camp in this era?"

Looking over my shoulder as I was ensuring the wi-fi connection worked fine. How was I to properly set up methods of communication that magi never bothered to consider, much less check? I saw my green and brown-haired Servant materialize from motes of mana, looking around the equipment and belongings I set up.

"You should see how mundane humans set up their military camps," I replied offhandedly as I returned my attention to the laptop and after I was satisfied that the connection was clear and stable I turned off the device. "A lot more barracks, computer servers, turret emplacements, helicopter pads, barbed wire, and maybe even a runway depending where you are."

"I don't know what half of those are," Atalanta deadpanned.

Chuckling, I closed my laptop, "Ah, well, you don't need to worry about it."

Heading over to the designated kitchen area, I began taking out some ingredients; a few cans of vegetables, a packet of noodles, a can of broth, and some meat. Grabbing a pot and turning on the stove, I was able to make a pot of soup some time later. Nothing so grand like what Mom would've made, but passable to her eyes. Pouring the soup into a couple of bowls, I grabbed some spoons and walked over to the dining table, placing the bowls on top of it. Taking a seat, I looked over at Atalanta and gestured to the other bowl with a motion of my head, my unspoken question clear.

"Faelan, you are aware that I don't actually need to eat, yes?" Atalanta chuckled as she took a seat at the table while I took the seat across from her.

"Humor me," I shrugged with a smirk, quoting the same words I said on the night she was summoned.

Shaking her head with a smile, she took the bowl nonetheless. "What are our plans tomorrow?" she asked as she dipped her spoon into the soup, brought it up, blew on it to cool it, and took a bite.

"We'll be scouting the outer edges of Trifas," I replied, stirring my spoon in my soup as I waited for it to cool a little bit more. "I want to see what kind of defenses the Black Faction have set up or are setting up, though I wish I had some experience in sabotage."

"Unfortunate, Master, but there is nothing we can do about that," she shrugged. "Though an Assassin or a Caster would be more suited to that role. However…"

Nodding with a grimace, I could only agree with her line of thought. "Yeah, I don't want to be owing favors so early in the War. Especially to our faction's Assassin. No telling what she and her Master would ask for in compensation."

"Yes," Atalanta nodded with a frown, "the less we have to deal with Assassin the better."

"I dunno, to be honest, I think her Master is the one to watch out for," I commented, staring at a random spot on the table.

"Oh?" she raised a brow, awaiting my reasoning.

"Just a nagging feeling," I admitted, a frown forming from my brows. "I dunno," I shrugged, "Assassin may be the more obvious threat between the two, but I wouldn't trust the Priest with my back. Even if we are on the same side."

"I see," she said, "well, you are my Master, so I will defer to your judgment in this."

With that, little more was said as we continued eating our respective meals.

…

The next morning, I was lying prone on a forested ridge looking at the city of Trifas through the lens of a pair of binoculars. The city itself didn't seem to have any defenses beyond anything made by civilian law enforcement. Visiting the city itself would be a risk, especially given that I did have some notoriety amongst the Mage population, and despite the Yggdmillenia's isolation, one of them might be able to recognize me. Still, there is still the idea of not revealing the existence of magecraft to the general populace, but I'd rather keep my identification hidden from the enemy for as long as possible.

"Master," said Atalanta as she materialized beside me.

"So what's the situation down there?" I asked, moving my binoculars over to the Trifas Citadel. "Anything we have to worry about if we were to make a siege on the place?"

"The city itself is barely defended," she replied, I noticed her cat ears twitching every so often at the softest of sounds and probably at ones that I couldn't even hope to hear. "However, the situation is different in the Citadel. I didn't get too close as I didn't want to notify the enemy's Caster of my presence given we don't know their True Identity."

"Right," I nodded, "better to play it safe than sorry."

"However," she continued, "I did see a lot of humans that looked very distinctly like each other and golems manning the Citadel's defenses."

"Did the humans look like family?" I asked, frowning from behind my binoculars.

"They look too alike to be genetically related," I saw her shake her head from the corner of my eye. "If it was one or two, or even a group at most, perhaps. But all of them look too similar to each other."

"Homunculi then," I sighed as I lowered my binoculars. "Though the Einzberns are the leading authority on homunculi and they're the only ones who have been able to mass-produce homunculi on a large scale. So either the Yggdmillenia bought some schematics from them or they stole them."

"Which is a better scenario?" Atalanta asked.

"Neither," I replied as I raised the binoculars to my eyes. "It's possible that Yggdmillenia's homunculi are up to the Einzbern standards, and while I do not know any of them in particular, the Einzbern's standards are quite high when it comes to homunculi. On the other hand, Yggdmillenia could've added some unknown variations or aspects that aren't up to the Einzbern's standards. And while I'd put my money on a Servant over a homunculus any day, it would be unwise to ignore their potential."

"Agreed," she nodded before silence settled between us. "So…"

"Hm?"

"What's for lunch?"

…

Upon returning to the cave, I began gathering the materials to make lunch for Atalanta and I. I was thinking of pork sandwiches with veggies and cheese, simple to make but if made right, would taste fantastic. Plus, it was one of Mom's recipes. Gathering the required ingredients, I placed them on the counter and began cutting the meat and vegetables up. However, a minute later, the skeleton hand on what passed as the Mage version of a fax machine began writing.

"Must be the priest," I sighed as I was in the middle of making one sandwich. "Atalanta, can you bring over the message?"

"Of course," she replied as she took the message, reading it with a raised brow as she walked over to me.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"If you consider that our faction's Berserker is currently rampaging his way to the enemy's territory as something wrong," Atalanta sighed as I traded her the message for the sandwich I had just made. Idly, I noticed her ears twitch when she took a bite as I began reading the letter.

"Hmm, Berserker is heading towards Black faction territory…" I muttered aloud. "Going to send Rider to stop him… requesting that we aid Rider… Hm. Well, I don't see why not."

"We're going to help?" Atalanta looked at me, raising a brow.

"Having our faction's most destructive Servant class going on a rampage, in broad daylight no less, is less than ideal," I replied as I started on making a sandwich for myself. "Even if Berserker does trip the enemy's traps, and survive, and force the enemy to waste time resetting them, doing so now while our faction isn't ready to seize the opportunity is… not ideal."

"Hm, a fair point," she nodded as she continued taking bites of her sandwich. "Very well, let us stop Berserker."

After finishing in making my sandwich and sending a message to Father Kotomine to send Rider to a designated spot nearby, Atalanta and I began walking to the area for the meetup.

"By the way, Master, do we know the identity of our faction's Rider?" asked Atalanta.

"Hmm?" I mumbled around a bite of my sandwich. Swallowing said bite, I raised a brow at my Servant. "You didn't see it on Kotomine's note?"

"I was more interested in the crux of the issue," she waved off dismissively.

"Fair enough," I chuckled. "Well, Rider's True name is Achilles." Beside me, I noticed Atalanta pause for a moment from the corner of my eye.

"Oh? The son of Peleus?" Atalanta mused.

"Hmm, if I remember correctly, Peleus was a comrade of yours on the Argo's quest for the Golden Fleece, was he not?" I asked.

"Indeed," she nodded, "Peleus was a decent fellow who did not mind that I was a woman nor the only woman on the Argo at the beginning of our journey. Though I also remember that the woman he wed, Thetis, was a sea nymph that is famed for nurturing gods at their weakest."

"Oh? Such as?" I asked, intrigued.

"Zeus, for one, when the other gods rebelled against his reign; Hephaestus when Hera cast him from Olympus; and Dionysus, when Lycurgus banned him," she replied. "Though if I also remember correctly, Thetis was also courted by Zeus and would have possibly mothered a child of the King of the Gods if not for two prophecies."

"Let me guess, one of them was the one that said a son of Zeus would grow to dethrone him like he did Kronos," I remarked with a sigh. Because usually, that's what prophecies regarding the King of the Gods tended to do.

"Yes," she nodded, "the other prophecy that also involved Thetis was that her son would grow to be greater than his father."

"And if Zeus fathered a child with Thetis, the child would end up probably being a powerful deity," I surmised thoughtfully as I continued polishing off my sandwich. "More than a match for Zeus."

"And knowing how frivolous and politicking the gods were, Greece would have ended up in a civil war not seen since the gods rebelled against the Titans," she sighed. "And it is because of that I am quite glad that neither of my parents were a god."

"Hmph, yeah, I don't blame you," I laughed. "No offense, but I don't think I'd be able to take it if you were a Greek demigod. Trouble seemed to follow them like a tick on a dog."

"You have no idea," she smirked. "Half the troubles I saw on the Argonaut were a result of various monsters who were interested in eating Heracles, the Son of Zeus."

"And the other half?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Jason," the Huntress deadpanned, "despite his ability to speak and his charismatic aura that was great enough to gather us heroes to his boat in search of the Golden Fleece, he really was a useless person. He claimed to have been trained by Chiron, the Teacher of Heroes, but I have my doubts."

"Was he that bad?" I raised a brow. Chiron was reputed to have trained the greatest of Greece's Heroes such as Perseus, Theseus, Heracles, Ajax, and many others who were famed for one act or another. With our faction's Rider being of one said students of the famed centaur.

"The best Jason could do was stall the enemy until one of us saved his hide," she shook her head exasperatedly before smirking amusement. "In fact, when we were fighting a group of giants, Jason only managed to survive because he stabbed his sword into a giant's back, but the sword became stuck, so it was all he could to hold onto his sword until Heracles appeared and killed the giant."

Picturing such a scene in my head, I couldn't help but guffaw into laughter.

"Oh, and what has the two of you in such joy?"

My eyes narrowed as I reached for Mugetsu's handle as Atalanta materialized her bow with a bow already notched and drawn.

"Whoa, whoa," said a green-haired man as he materialized before us, then raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to spook you two, I was just curious as to what caused you two to be in such merriment."

Upon closer inspection, as I lowered my hand from my sword while Atalanta dismissed her bow, I saw that the man before us was dressed in armor with a long orange sash wrapped around his torso with one end flying free. But that wasn't what caused me to lower my guard somewhat, it was the fact that the green-haired man before me was a Servant.

"Sorry about that," I said, lowering my hand from my sword. "I assume that you are our faction's Rider?"

"Yup," he grinned, his hands on the back of his head as he stood rather casually. "That's me, but you can call me Achilles. And am I right in asking you that you are a Master of Red and that your Servant there is Archer?"

"You are," I nodded.

"Well, it's good to meet 'cha!" Rider's grin never faded.

"Well met," Atalanta nodded in greeting. "It's good to meet the son of Peleus."

"Oh? You knew my old man?" blinked Achilles.

Faelan?

Go ahead. I doubt he's the type to blabber important information.

"I did," she nodded. "I am Atalanta, Huntress of Artemis. I served with your father on board the-"

"The Argo!" Achilles interrupted with an excited gleam in his eye. "By the gods, this meeting is indeed fortuitous! Father told me all about his adventure as one of the Argonauts seeking the Golden Fleece! I have always wanted to meet one of you! And to meet one of Greece's most famed heroines that was the only woman amongst the legendary group, the Argonauts!"

The excited green-haired Greek literally vibrated with excitement. In fact, I was starting to get a little worried that he might explode from sheer excitement. I mean, the guy was a demigod, and breaking the rules that the world was governed by was in their wheelhouse of impossible tasks.

"This is definitely one of the best days ever!"

Atalanta and I shared a look, both of us dumbfounded by Rider's jubilation.

"Ahem," Atalanta coughed loudly into her fist, interrupting Achilles' joy, "while I appreciate your praise, Rider, I remind you that we are in a rather dire moment."

"Oh, right, Berserker, yeah we should probably get him," Achilles deflated before he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that Sis."

"Sis?" balked Atalanta, a frown forming on her face.

"Though I am surprised to see your Master," said Achilles, ignoring Atalanta's annoyance and turned his attention to me with a brow raised. "I kinda figured I would just be meeting another Servant."

"Oh, why?" I asked.

"Haven't seen my Master yet," he shrugged. "Or any other, to be honest."

I blinked, "What? How is that possible?"

In order to summon a Servant, the Master with the Command Seals would have to physically be there to do the summoning. Unless the Master decided to split after the summoning, which was a rather tight window, to find somewhere to hide. But given the list of Masters that Dad sent me, I never figured any one of them would exhibit such behavior.

"Dunno," Achilles shrugged. "But the connection to him is there and I do receive the occasional order, but I've never actually seen my Master's face yet."

Atalanta and I shared another look, though this one was of confusion. At my helpless shrug, for I barely knew Atalanta's Summoner much less the other Masters for I only knew them by reputation and whatever information dug up, she shook her head before looking back at Achilles.

"Well, mages are known to hide and lurk about in the shadows," she noted before giving me a smirk, "present company excepted of course."

"Ha ha," I replied dryly. "But seriously, we should really go after Berserker right now, you know, before the enemy switches him to their side or something."

The Rider of Red looked at us in bewilderment, blinking once then twice, but that didn't last long for he grinned widely. "You raise a great point, Master of Red!" Achilles laughed. "But tell me, can you keep up with two Servants?"

"If I was a regular magus, you would've been right in asking," I scoffed in amusement, crossing my arms. "But let me tell you, Achilles, I am an Enforcer, not a simple magus. Unlike the other Masters, I've been doing missions killing Dead Apostles and rogue mages from the beginning while they've been holed up in their workshops."

"Really? My deepest apologies then," Achilles chuckled before bending his knees to launch himself. "That said, last one's a rotten egg!"

As Achilles' laugh echoed from the tree top, Atalanta and I shared deadpan looks.

"He must take after his mother," she shook her head before leaping to a tree branch and after the Servant of the Chariot.

I blinked as I realized something. "Hmm, I guess I'm the rotten egg," I sighed.

Master? Coming?

Yeah, yeah, I'm right behind you.

Sighing once more, I muttered the name of the haste rune and leaped up, following after the Red Faction Servants.

…

Using Archer's heightened senses, both as a huntress and a Servant of the Archer class, it didn't take long for us to find Berserker of Red's trail and follow it. Though I was amused when a local game hunter was utterly stupified by Spartacus' appearance as the Greek Hero of Rebellion merely gave the man a rather disconcerting grin before continuing on. I quickly drew a rune that would erase the man's memories of the encounter as I passed by, unimpeded by the momentary distraction as I followed after Atalanta and Rider.

However, I had started to grow a little worried as the sun continued its descent toward the horizon as we continued on. All attempts at getting Berserker, save for outright attacking him, to stop have all failed. And when Berserker finally stopped, it was night-time. However, when the Hero of Rebellion did stop in the middle of enemy territory, it was due to the fact that the enemy's golems had risen and effectively stopped Berserker in his tracks as he paused in his rather suicidal run towards the enemy's citadel and began attacking the golems in rapturous joy.

"Do you think we should just abandon Berserker and leave?" Atalanta asked aloud as she looked down at the skirmish from above.

"You asking me, or your Master?" chuckled Achilles. "But if you think you can convince him to stop what he's doing, Sis, go ahead."

"My True name is Atalanta," scoffed my Servant, causing me to smirk behind her, "stop calling me "Sis," Achilles. And Master, don't think I haven't noticed you smirking there. Perhaps you should go and get Berserker to go back, given I have yet to personally see your true battle prowess since you were under armed the last few times. This is the perfect chance for it since we have yet to encounter an enemy Servant."

Pulling an irked face, I looked away, which had caused Achilles to stifle his laughter behind his fist. Like hell was I gonna go down there to get Berserker to stop face to face, much less fight the guy. I liked living, thank you very much.

"It's just a term of endearment," said Achilles to Atalanta, covering for me, and still quite amused. "Don't sweat it. Besides, since you knew my old man, you're basically my older sister, right?"

Atalanta sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"So, anyway," began Achilles, turning serious, "should we go and take a look at what we're up against? The priest mentioned that the two of you were pulling reconnaissance for us before I left. But it would be better to see what kind of individual magical traps they have set up for us, right?"

Atalanta looked over her shoulder at me, gauging my reaction, to which I simply shrugged. "He has a good point," I replied. "With Berserker as a distraction, it would be a lot easier given the closer view."

Atalanta held my stare for a long moment before sighing. "Very well," she nodded, "but if Berserker unleashes his Noble Phantasm, we should retreat."

"Agreed," I nodded.

"No complaints here," replied Achilles.

"COME ON, MORE! GIVE ME, SPARTACUS, MORE!" shouted Berserker below.

This had caused the three of us to give dry looks down at the rebellion crazed Servant as he continued to smash the enemy's golems with his sword. Honestly, doesn't his Master know what's going on? He should have at least used a Command Seal to calm Spartacus down by now.

"It's only a matter of time before his Noble Phantasm goes off," Achilles sighed.

Atalanta's ears twitched as she looked ahead of us.

"Something the matter?" I asked as she kept her attention on that one spot.

She took a moment to consider what her senses were telling her. "It's them."

"How many?" I asked as I drew Mugetsu from my back and held it by its scabbard in my left hand.

"One so far," she replied, "but there is little doubt that the rest will come out to comb their territory."

"I was disappointed when our Lancer went and got the first fight in the war," grinned Achilles as he materialized his spear. "Apparently the enemy's Saber is quite the adversary."

"Master?" Atalanta looked over her shoulder to me.

I looked down at Berserker before looking up to the horizon, where the Millennia Citadel stood. "Support Achilles," I replied, looking to her, "Berserker's a lost cause anyway, especially if his Master doesn't have the common sense to use a Command Seal to bring him back at this point. I'll pull further recon and maybe we can try to identify the enemy Servants and their Masters if we're lucky."

"Yes!" grinned Achilles, unable to contain his excitement. "C'mon, Sis, we should cause an even bigger distraction to keep your Master safe!" And with that, he jumped forward, running across overhanging tree branches.

Atalanta sighed under her breath, massaging her forehead for a moment. "He must definitely get that from his mother, Peleus was never that headstrong." She then looked back at me. "Stay safe, Master."

"Aren't I always?" I smirked.

She narrowed her eyes at me but said nothing.

"Fine, fine," I sighed, "I'll be careful. Jeez, you're like my mom."

"Given how intimidating your mother can be, I take that as a compliment," Atalanta smirked as she materialized her bow.

"YES, MORE! GIVE ME MORE! MORE!"

The two of us once again sent dry looks to Berserker as he continued to crush golems underfoot before he resumed his trek to the enemy's base of operations. Though I had to pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to ward off any potential headaches. Thank the Root I didn't end up with him as a Servant.

Lowering my hand, I looked over at Atalanta, "Shoot some legs."

"Isn't the correct phrase, "break a leg"?" she frowned.

"I know what I said," I smirked.

One that Atalanta shared before she shook her head at me, "Go."

Giving her a casual two-fingered salute, I leaped in another direction, one that would allow me to follow after Berserker at a good distance. Drawing my 5.7 sidearm, where I had switched out its usual compensator muzzle for a sound suppressor, one that had runes to actually silence the sound of the bullet, I fired a few shots at several familiars before they could turn their attention towards me. Sure the enemy Masters might get suspicious when they discovered some of their familiars that hadn't been in Berserker's path gone, but they had bigger problems with said Berserker going on a rampage. It didn't take long however before a Servant appeared before Berserker to reinforce the enemy's golems, a pink-haired Servant wielding a grandiose lance.

"Huh, you don't look like Count Dracula," I said under my breath as I took over behind the upper portion of a tree. "So you're probably the enemy's Rider."

I watched as Spartacus cut down a tree, causing it to crush the last golem and for Rider of Black to seek cover. However, the enemy Rider's weapon must be on the level of a Noble Phantasm, for a strike caused Spartacus' right leg to dematerialize into motes of mana. But that didn't deter Berserker at all, which wasn't surprising, for he grabbed his sword again and flew at the enemy Servant only to be impaled by several spikes.

My eyes narrowed as a Servant riding a horse came forth, at his side was a man I recognized as Darnic Yggdmillennia and what was probably their Caster, given the robes and mask, followed by two Masters, whom I recognized as Roche and Celenike Yggdmillennia. The Caster raised his hand and several golems formed only to form themselves around Berserker into an earthly prison before the Servant on the horse raised his hand as purple, red, and black mana formed around it, and Berserker's last-minute attack was stopped by more spikes. No, not spikes, they were more like stakes. The stakes stabbed through the Berserker and his prison, effectively stopping him from moving.

"So you're Vlad III," I hummed to myself, narrowing my eyes at the infamous defender of Wallachia. Even from this distance, I could feel the power The Son of the Dragon held so long as he stood within the grounds of Romania. "Even Achilles would have trouble against him." Both Lancer and Rider of Black soon left, allowing the three Master plus Caster to begin working on Berserker, no doubt to sever his connection to his Master and turn the Hero of Rebellion to their side.

"Great, just barely a day into the war and we already lost one Servant to the other side," I grumbled as I retreated before I could be spotted. "Good thing I won't be there when his Master finds out."

And honestly, I didn't envy Berserker's Master one bit. The War has barely started and they have already lost their Servant, along with their chance for the Holy Grail. Must suck to be the first "casualty" in all of this. Though my thoughts then turned to the Servant who I assumed was the enemy's Caster. The mask made it difficult to deduce the identity of the Servant, but there couldn't be that many people in history who were known for golem making.

…

As Achilles leaned against the trunk of a tree, he couldn't help his troubled thoughts.

Hey, Sis, you and your Master seem close.

From her perch kilometers away, Atalanta kept her eyes on the shadows of the forest. I was summoned some days before the War started, it allowed us the time to bond.

Achilles' eyes lit up in interest, That so? I sense a story there.

A couple of rather harrowing experiences that involved my Master's uncle and a pair of vampires that targeted my Master's sister, she is barely out of her teething years, replied Atalanta as her eyes narrowed at the memory of Lin's kidnapping.

Oh. That's a shame. Did the kid sister come out all right?

She was not turned if that's what you're asking. However, the possibility had caused much distress to my Master and I.

Huh, you bonded with your Master's kid sister too, huh?

Let us say that she has an aura that is difficult to ignore.

Hmm, that so? Well, I can't help but envy you. Like I said before, I haven't even seen my Master's face, much less hold a conversation that wasn't an order.

I cannot speak for your Master, however, the situation you're in, it is cowardly on your Master's part. No offense.

None taken. And no offense to you either, but to be honest, I wouldn't mind if I had ended up as your Master's Servant instead. He seems like a really fun guy to be around. And the fact that he can at least keep up with two Servants speaks volumes in itself.

… I am not trading Masters, Achilles.

Damn…

Hold a moment, my Master wishes to speak with me.

Whistling a tune, Achilles turned his attention to see a tall man in grandiose armor and a woman in a wedding dress with machinery coming out of her head approach him. Go ahead, I've finally got company.

"Hey there, you two," Achilles greeted the duo casually before scrutinizing them. "Hmm, let's see, a Saber and a Berserker, am I right?"

The woman growled.

"Well, it seems I'm being underestimated," Achilles sighed in disappointment. "Did they really think two Servants were enough?" Here, he then grinned in challenge, "I can't help but feel insulted!"

His shout caused a flock of birds to take flight as Saber and Berserker of Black readied their weapons.

"My class is Rider," said Achilles, spinning his spear, "but don't worry, I won't use a chariot. I hardly need it with two of you here." He smirked at his opponents' rather stoic faces, "Are you prepared? I'll show you what it means to be a true hero!"

Saber of Black struck first, having rushed forward with his large blade aimed towards Achilles's chest. To which the green-haired Greek deflected the strike with his spear. Answering in kind, Achilles laughed as he went toe to toe with Saber of Black. And he wasn't lying when he claimed two Servants weren't enough. Despite being on the same sides, Saber and Berserker were hardly a coordinated pair. Berserker only charged in after Achilles pushed back Saber for a moment. The smart play would've been to attack while he was busy trading blows with Saber, not during a lapse.

Blocking her strikes, Achilles smirked as he also pushed Berserker back. However, years of experience and his own senses warned him as he caught Saber of Black's attack by grabbing Saber's own grip around his sword. "Is that all you've got?" he taunted. "You're nowhere qualified to fight against me!" With that, he plunged his spear into Saber's shoulder. But to Achilles's delight, Saber of Black took the attack, tore himself from Achilles's grip, and slashed at him.

Of course, Achilles backed up to avoid the slash. "You take pride in endurance as well," he praised the enemy Saber. "I guess we're in for a long fight." At Saber's still stoic face, the Greek hero chuckled in amusement. "Those who don't laugh in the field of battle may forget how to when they reach Elysium. So try to laugh before you die."

You ready?

Yes, I have a clear shot if you move your head to the left.

Gotcha.

By the way, my Master says that we have lost Berserker to the enemy faction.

Well, that's a shame.

"Laughing on the battlefield can be seen as disrespectful towards the opponent," spoke Saber, his sword held at the ready.

"Yeah, I guess," Achilles shrugged, "but it can also lead to salvation." Here, he tilted his head, allowing an arrow to fly by and impale itself into Saber's shoulder and pinned him to the tree behind him. "My distraction for Sis's attack worked perfectly, as expected." He then turned his attention to the Berserker in the wedding dress, pointing his spear at her. "You know, since we just lost our Berserker, it's only fair you lose yours as well, right?"

Saber of Black grit his teeth just as the head of Berserker's mace opened, causing electricity to crackle in the air and created a barrier of pure electricity and lightning around her. Whatever she was going to do with it though, Achilles had no idea and would forever not know for Saber of Black suddenly pulled himself free of the tree and seemed to fight his own action as he raised his sword, gathering mana for one powerful attack.

"Well, well," Achilles smirked, realizing what the enemy Servant was going to do, "just try it, show me your Noble Phantasm!"

Saber of Black continued to struggle against releasing his most powerful attack and part of his legend. "Bal-" he almost incanted. But suddenly, the mana collected to form his Noble Phantasm burst as the Noble Phantasm itself dissipated, causing Saber to fall to his knees. Much to Achilles's confusion.

A moment later, Saber of Black dematerialized, causing Achilles to sigh in dismay, "How disappointing, he might've been able to put a scratch on me with a god-slaying Noble Phantasm." He turned to Berserker, "Now as for-" An arrow to shoulder interrupted him, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. "Wait… what?" The incoming volley of arrows caused him to fall back to avoid them and Berserker used the distraction to slip by him. "Di immortales!"

Archer!

I see her.

Atalanta scoffed as she watched the enemy's Berserker ignore Achilles and charge at her location. "So you come, Berserker of Black?" she muttered to herself. "Such recklessness, you'll pay for your mistake in blood!" Drawing a charged arrow aimed for Berserker's head, she released the projectile and expected it to strike true. If it wasn't for the fact that an arrow from the enemy's direction tore through her arrow. "What?" she balked before her eyes narrowed, drawing three more arrows to her bow. "The enemy archer, eh?"

Releasing the three arrows that fired similar to a mundane human's shotgun and found true to their mark, Atalanta was pleasantly surprised to see Berserker take the attack head-on but still kept going regardless. "Such tenacity," she shook her head. Still, she couldn't help but admire her for it. Before Berserker reached the tree of her perch, the Chaste Huntress leaped from the branch and into the shadows. "I'm calling this fight on hold, Servant of Black!"

Rider, I'm pulling back, you should do so as well. I'm going to find my Master.

Right, right. Till we meet again, Sis.

And stop calling me, Sis.

…

Leaping away before the enemy Masters could notice my presence, I began making my way towards the outskirts of the forest, marking traps as I took the long way in going around the large forest. Such intel would be invaluable in a siege since it provided cover for us as well as the enemy. Though as I did so, I couldn't help but worry for my Servant.

Atalanta, what's your status?

Saber and Berserker of Black have just found Rider. I will engage them as soon as Rider gives me an opening.

Good, and if you can take either of them out, go ahead. We just lost our Berserker and the enemy Masters are changing him to their side as we speak.

Figures that fool of a Berserker has gotten himself captured…

I'll be heading towards the outskirts of the forest to the East in a few minutes. By the time the enemy has realized a Master was here during all this, we'll be long gone. I'll let you know where to find me when I'm somewhere safe to rendezvous.

Understood, stay safe, Master.

Right back at ya.

When I reached a creek in the hills far away from the Millennia Citadel, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and opened a pdf file of a map of the area. I soon began marking where I noticed traps that had been set up. There was little doubt that Atalanta would've noticed twice as many as I did. However, in the middle of what I was doing, I detected a large mana spike in the enemy's territory.

Looking up and back towards the direction of the mana spike, I saw a large blue fount of mana gather. "A Noble Phantasm?" I muttered. "This soon into the war?" However, my bafflement was doubled when the Noble Phantasm dissipated as soon as it appeared. "The hell?" Shaking my head, I dismissed it as an enemy Master using a Command Seal with a shrug, before going back to what I was doing.

Some time later, Atalanta materialized near me, looking no worse for wear.

"Atalanta," I nodded in greeting. "How went the battle? I noticed you haven't used much of your mana nor did you use your Noble Phantasm."

"Archer of Black countered my arrows with their own," she replied in annoyance, crossing her arms as her bottom lip upturned. "Their Berserker came after me as their Archer engaged Achilles, so I decided to retreat for the time being since we were technically outnumbered while in enemy territory."

"Smart," I nodded, idly noting Atalanta's pout without mentioning it. I glanced down at my watch, to see that it was a few hours until sunrise. "Hmm, we should head back to camp," I said, covering a yawn behind my hand.

"Indeed," Atalanta nodded, "while I may not need rest, it would be unwise if you were to become exhausted this early in the war."

"Agreed," I covered another yawn, but looked down at my phone when it vibrated, indicating a message. Opening my phone, I found a text message from Lord El-Melloi II.

Travel to Sighișoara. Details to come.

"Looks like I'll be getting sleep on the bus ride," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Bus ride?" Atalanta frowned.

"Remember that guy I called yesterday? Well, apparently there have been odd incidents that have been going on. He asked me if I would look into it for him," I replied. "He wants me in Sighisoara."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she regarded me with crossed arms and a fine brow raised. "We just came from a skirmish with the enemy."

"It's just one night of little sleep, I've dealt with worse on Apostle hunts," I waved off as I fastened Mugetsu to my back. "And if you remember, I woke up before Lin did the morning after we dealt with Camden. Hmm, but we should stop by the cave, gather some things and make sure it stays undetectable while we're gone."

"Fine," she sighed, "I doubt I'll be able to convince you otherwise."

"Unfortunately," I laughed before covering yet another yawn, "Hm, the faster we get to the cave, the faster we can get on a bus, and the faster I can go to sleep."

I saw her roll her eyes one last time as she turned to walk in the direction of our base camp. I gave one last look in the direction of the enemy's territory before turning to follow after my Servant. Hopefully whatever El-Melloi wanted me to do would be relatively easy.

Pfft, yeah right.

Like my luck is that great.

---

Another Monday, another chapter.

Just a small introduction chapter to the Apocrypha War arc with Faelan's initial role in it along with some filler moments and an intro to Achilles. Next week, we'll see Faelan helping Kairi Sisigou in his investigation into Assassin of Black's killings.

The new cover art for this is also what I imagine Faelan's Command Seals to look like. Just an image I found on pngjoy and simply turned red in Photoshop. If the owner of this design reads this story and would like me to take it down, all you have to do is send me a PM.

I hope everyone's doing great with the Valentine's event in FGO so far. And if anyone's going to be rolling for Semiramis, I wish you luck. I know I'll need it if I want to make my collection of Red faction Apocrypha Servants...

See you all next week!