Chapter XIV
"So you're a Huntress of Artemis, eh? Then come, for I seek the Golden Fleece that even the gods covet!"
…
"Doesn't matter to me if you're a woman. Have you met an Amazon? I almost peed my pants when I saw one of them turn my way."
…
"Why should I care if you're a woman? As long as you can hold your own in a fight, that's the only thing that matters. What the…? By the gods, what have you done now, Jason?!"
…
"Thank you, Atalanta, for your friendship."
…
"You are my daughter? Good then, should you marry a strong king, then our bloodline will be even stronger for it."
…
"A foot race?Bah, by all means. A good king should be a good warrior and a good warrior should be able to have adequate endurance, I guess."
…
"At last, you are mine…"
...
When I awoke the next morning, I woke with a sharp intake of breath. Sitting up, I looked around to see an unfamiliar room. Where…? Oh, right. I was in one of the rooms in the Millennia Citadel. Atalanta and I agreed to Fiore's offer of a temporary place to stay for the night the day before.
"Something wrong, Faelan?" Atalanta asked in concern after she materialized at my side.
I stared at her and I couldn't help but remember the dream I had. Or rather the broken sequences of memories that I saw. I saw Atalanta aboard the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece, I saw her return to Arcadia to meet her father for the first time, I saw her happy with the person who would later be known as the Witch of Betrayal, I saw how angry she was when her father demanded of her that she marry. And I saw her shame and rage when she lost the footrace that decided her fate, all because of golden apples.
"It's nothing," I shook my head. "Just feels weird being in unfamiliar territory is all."
"Are you sure?" her brows furrowed into a dubious frown, placing her hand on my arm. "You look pale."
"Yeah, Atalanta, I'm fine," I smiled exasperatedly at her. "But thank you for caring."
"I… of course," she nodded as she took a step back.
"Want the shower first?" I offered, gesturing my head to the bathroom door. "I want to do some maintenance on my weapons anyway."
She frowned for a moment, contemplating my offer before nodding, "Very well then."
As she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, I walked over to the desk where my 5.7 Custom and Mugetsu laid. Sitting in the chair, I opened a portal to the Gate of Babylon above my open hand, allowing the cleaning kits I kept there to fall into my grasp. Placing the kits on the table, I got to work on my weapons. With the commotion of the events two nights prior, cleaning my weapons hadn't even come to me. Quickly taking apart my 5.7 sidearm, I took a rag and began cleaning it of grime and dirt, taking my time with each piece. Soon, every piece was cleaned and the weapon was sufficiently oiled that when I reassembled the weapon, I smirked at the click when the slide slid forward.
"I'm done, Faelan," spoke Atalanta as she got out of the bathroom, looking satisfied and refreshed.
"I hope you saved me some hot water," I joked with a grin.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to give you a reason not to take time to clean yourself," Atalanta smirked back at me. "After all, it would be remiss of me if my Master smelled like a wet dog."
Shaking my head with a chuckle, I eyed Mugetsu and grabbed the blade before unsheathing it. Inspecting the blade, it didn't really need to be cleaned as of the moment, but it would be better to do it now than later. Deciding to clean before taking my shower, I grabbed the cleaning rag and gave the sword a quick wipe down.
"Faelan, before you go for your shower…" spoke up Atalanta a bit timidly.
Wait, timid?
"Yeah, what's up?" I turned to her, my interest piqued as I grabbed a spare set of my current outfit.
"Would you mind if I watched something on your tablet?"
I blinked, before raising my hand, palm up. "Oh, was that all?" Over my hand, a golden ripple of the Gate of Babylon appeared, dropped my tablet into my waiting palm, and handed it to her. "You remember how to use it?"
"I do," Atalanta nodded, taking the device gratefully.
I nodded absently as I walked into the bathroom. Now that I could open the Gate of Babylon freely, I had thrown a bunch of things in there, shampoo, body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, just to name a few, this Noble Phantasm really came in handy for the little things. Getting ready for the day, I walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and ready to crush the mongrels in my day under my heel.
Wait, what?
Shaking my head, I turned my senses to the world around me and frowned upon seeing Atalanta at the door, answering whoever must've knocked while I was getting ready. "Atalanta, who is it?" I asked, walking over.
"Greetings and good morning, Lord Ashford," a homunculus curtsied formally. "The Lady of the house would like to inquire if you would like to have breakfast."
I glanced over to Atalanta and was about to answer for the both of us when I realized that the message was solely intended for me. Huh, I'm starting to think that I'm used to my Servant being more than just a Servant in a Grail War.
I don't mind.
I'll try to save you something.
Faelan, that is unnecessary.
Humor me.
"I'd love to," I turned my attention to the patiently waiting homunculus servant.
"Very good, my lord," the maid nodded. "If you'll follow me whenever you're ready, I'll lead you to the dining room."
Allowing Atalanta to go first, I closed the door behind me before following after them. And boy was it a good thing that Fiore sent over the homunculus maid to lead us to the dining room, because holy crap, I figured it would take a long walk to get there, but not ten freakin' minutes!
"Ah, good morning, Enforcer Ashford," greeted Fiore, sitting at the head of the breakfast table with Gordes and Caules sitting at her sides, a small feast of breakfast items before them. And standing diligently behind Fiore, was Chiron."Please, join us."
"Thank you," I replied as I took the seat beside Caules, though I did note that both Caules and Gordes seemed wary of my presence.
"Were your accommodations up to your liking?" Fiore asked me.
"They were," I nodded cordially as I gathered some food onto my plate.
"If I may, may I ask what you do as an Enforcer to Lady Barthomeloi?" the head of the Yggdmillennia clan sparked a conversation. "That is if you are allowed to, of course. Even we of the Yggdmillennia know of your patron's… reputation."
That was putting it lightly.
"There are some things I am allowed to share," I spoke between bites of food. The food was decent, if you had an upper-class palate, "When I am not assisting Barthomeloi on her hunts for Dead Apostle Ancestors, I am often tasked with hunting down lesser Dead Apostles or Sealing Designates."
"You actually go against Dead Apostle Ancestors?!" Caules' eyes lit up.
"Well, not really," I shrugged. "The boss lady usually reserves that right for herself. The rest of us just takes care of the rabble that might get in the way."
"So… you get relegated to clean up duty?" the guy tilted his head with an incredulous expression. "That sucks."
Off to the side, Gordes was barely even trying to hide his amused smirk. "So, this is what a member of the great Ashford has fallen to?"
"As much as I love giving my boss shit, would you tell Lorelei Barthomeloi "no"?" I deadpanned. "I know I wouldn't." And I wouldn't unless the boss lady crossed one of my lines, not that she would, she knew what I would and wouldn't do.
Stricken, Gordes nearly choked on his food before he managed to calm down, grumbling as he averted his gaze.
Feeling my phone buzz as a ringtone sounded off, I was pleasantly surprised that out of the mages present, Caules was the only one who didn't see perturbed. "Ah, my apologies," I said, standing up. "I'll go take this call outside."
"Uh, no, by all means," said a flustered Fiore, confused.
Stepping into the hall, I looked at the caller I.D. Huh, it was the old man. I wonder what he wanted, he left yesterday to prepare for the attack on Amakusa and Semiramis' Hanging Gardens. Frowning, I answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, kid. Listen, we need to talk."
"Okay, I'm all ears."
"Not like this, face to face."
My frown deepened. "Did something happen?"
"Yeah, you can say that. Meet Saber and I this afternoon, I'll send you the coordinates to my temporary workshop, it's not far off. Other than Archer, come alone."
Before I could get another word in, the old man hung up. With my frown still in place, I put my phone back into my pocket just as Atalanta stepped out.
"What's wrong?" she spoke in concern, no doubt elicited from my heavy frown. "Who was that, that just called you? Did they give you bad news? Is it Linnet? Did something happen to her!?"
"No, no," I shook my head, trying to assuage her trepidation. "It was the old man."
Atalanta breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh? What was it that the Master of Saber wanted?"
What did he want? And why was he being so evasive? He was normally a straight shooter. Was it because he was worried that the Yggdmillennia clan might overhear? Still, he had never steered me wrong before.
"Wanted to know where I got some of those snacks I got Saber. Apparently, Saber's been craving them all day," I replied with as much amusement as I could muster before speaking to her via the mental link, He wanted us to meet him at his workshop.
"Ah, I see," she nodded. And the reason we aren't speaking about this aloud is?
Something's off, the old man isn't normally this secretive. Or at least, whenever I've spoken to him he isn't.
Then I assume you wish to keep this a secret from the Masters of Yggdmillennia.
Unless it becomes relevant, yes.
Very well then.
We should head out in an hour or two if we want to meet Sisigou at the specified time, plus I want to pack up our camp before we leave as well.
Atalanta nodded before she turned on her heel back into the dining room and I followed her in.
"I trust everything is fine?" Fiore asked courteously when she saw me walk in.
"Yes, my parents wished to check up on me is all," I lied easily. "They have been getting conflicting reports concerning the Grail War and wished for me to elaborate what has been going on. Though rest assured, I only told them that an anomaly has occurred that required the Ruler Servant to call for a ceasefire until the anomaly is dealt with."
Beside her, Gordes frowned in distaste. No doubt he realized that my lie insinuated that I did the Yggdmillennia clan a favor by keeping a lid on the fact that the blunder with the priest taking the Grail War on their watch was on them. Which, technically, it was. Of course, the Church would get a significant portion of the blame as was one of their own that went AWOL, but they could easily place the blame on Yggdmillennia in some shape or form. Despite their numbers, the Yggdmillennia clan had fewer resources compared to the Association and the Church, and they certainly were less powerful despite Darnic's machinations in seceding from the Clocktower.
"I see," Fiore frowned, no doubt understanding what my lie entailed.
"Thank you for breakfast," I bowed my head cordially, "however there are things I must attend to that require my attention away from Millennia Citadel."
"Oh? Such as?" Gordes raised a brow.
My eyes narrowed a little, "Matters that deal with my magecraft."
From the dubious frown on the man's face, it didn't look like he believed me. He made to stand up to question me further, but a hand from Fiore stopped him. "If that is the case, then by all means," she said, giving her uncle a reproachful look. "However, before you leave, would you be so kind as to join us for a meeting in an hour? There is a matter we must attend to as well and we would like your input."
I glanced over to Atalanta, who merely shared my gaze, betraying nothing.
It wouldn't hurt.
I looked back at Fiore and gave her a nod, "Of course."
Turning on my heel, I was about to walk out of the room when Astolfo came barreling in with tears in his eyes. "Chiron! My Masterrrrr! Sieg! He's…" he blubbered, wrapping his arms around the centaur's legs in desperation.
"Rider, I cannot understand what you want if you can't say it," the Teacher of Heroes sighed. "Now, Sieg, your Master. What is wrong?"
"He fell and now he can't get up!" cried Astolfo. "And his skin is turning black!"
That tidbit stunned Chiron for a moment before he turned to me, "Lord Ashford, would you be so kind as to join me as well? One of the homunculi told me that you managed to heal her leg with runecraft."
I paused to consider it but sighed, "Yeah, yeah, sure. Why not?"
"Thhhhaaaannnnnkkk yyyooooouuuu!" Astolfo made to wrap me in a big hug, but I merely sidestepped the Servant and let him fall to the floor. "Uuugh, ow…"
…
When we arrived at Sieg's room, I raised a brow upon seeing Ruler there at the homunculus' bedside, her face reflecting her concern. Does she…? Shaking my head, I looked over at Sieg and was surprised to see a patch of his skin had turned black. Was it turning necrotic?
"If you can, I'd like to have you sit up," requested Chiron as Ruler gave up her seat to the centaur. "Your hand, please." The centaur began tapping at the black tissue.
"How is he, Chiron, do you know what happened?" Astolfo asked fretfully as he sat beside his Master.
"Are you in any pain?" Ruler asked in concern.
"No, I'm fine for the moment," Sieg shook his head. "I have special abilities now, right? Maybe this was related to them. You said so yourself, nothing is without cost."
"It seems Siegfried's heart is linking itself to Sieg's magical circuits," frowned Chiron. "This is what likely allows the transformation. It is truly a miracle, albeit difficult to believe."
"It's a miracle he hasn't either imploded or exploded," I scoffed in amusement, shaking my head, from my spot near the door.
"Wait?! What?!" Astolfo cried out. "Do you mean to tell me that Sieg might blow up?!"
"It's a distinct possibility," I shrugged. "Regardless of the fact that Sieg is a homunculus with more than average quality of magical circuits, magecraft is a path walked in the presence of death. You never know when a spell might backfire or result in something deadly for every party in the vicinity."
"I-I know that!" stammered Astolfo before looking at his Master in concern.
"All that aside, it is likely that this dark encroachment is due to Siegfried's heart," spoke Chiron, turning to Ruler with a contemplative frown. "Likely from the mixing of the magical energy."
Ruler frowned for a moment before she realized something, "Wait. Does that mean that Sieg's body is trying to become Siegfried?"
"A likely hypothesis," Chiron nodded before looking back at Sieg. "All right, exactly how long has it been that you have taken Siegfried's form given that you have transformed twice?"
"I… I think no more than five minutes altogether," frowned Sieg.
"This much damage in just five minutes," Chiron looked at the marking spread throughout Sieg's chest. "Each time you transform, your lifespan will shorten."
"I see…" Sieg lowered his gaze for a moment, shook his head, and looked up at the Archer Servant. "Regardless of the cost, I believe that I shouldn't give up a power that may be important."
"What? But Sieg!" Ruler protested.
"No, Ruler," Chiron shook his head. "This is a decision that Sieg must make alone, no one can make it for him. For in the end, it is and will be his choice."
Ruler opened her mouth to protest but hesitated.
"Lord Ashford, is there anything you can do about Sieg's condition?" Chiron asked me.
Walking over, I scrutinized the black patches of skin on the homunculus' body with a frown and a hand to my chin, contemplating what I could do. "Hmm, I can draw some runes that can isolate the tissue as much as possible, mitigating the effects, however, those efforts will be minuscule the more he changes."
"That is all that anyone can hope for at this time," Chiron nodded.
"Well, Sieg, it's up to you," I raised a brow at Sieg, waiting for his permission.
Sieg frowned at me for a moment, then gave me a nod that was both sheepish and apologetic. "It seems every time we meet, I'm always thanking you for something, Faelan Ashford."
"Just Faelan is fine," I shook my head with a chuckle. "All right, arm out, this will only take a minute or two." As easy as writing words in English, I wrote several lines of runes, one line for each spot on Sieg's body. "There, all right, these runes will keep the new tissue at bay for as long as possible. However, the runes can't do anything if you transform again and cause the condition to worsen."
"Right," Sieg nodded.
"With that out of the way, I must return to my Master's side," side Chiron, standing up. "I remind everyone that Fiore wishes to see all of us in the meeting room in less than an hour."
"But not you, Master!" Astolfo declared, standing up in front of Sieg with his hands on his hips. "You need to rest!"
I glanced over at Atalanta, who had watched the events unfold with mild disinterest. You know what? I just found another reason to be thankful that you are my Servant and not anyone else.
Oh?
Yeah, well, not to bash on Rider of Black, but he seems like he would give me a lot of headaches now and again. If I somehow ended up with him, I'm pretty sure I'd be spending the War trying to keep him in line.
Welcome to my world.
Yeah… wait, hey! What is that supposed to mean?
Hmm, we must not tarry if we are to get ready, meet with the Yggdmillennia head, and leave to meet Sisigou and Saber.
And with that, Atalanta turned on her heel to leave the room.
"I know you heard me, Atalanta!" I called out, ignoring everyone else as I followed after her.
"Whatever do you mean?"
…
Approximately an hour later, I found myself sitting on the far end of the table in the meeting room with Fiore, Caules, Chiron, Jeanne, and Astolfo, with Atalanta sitting beside me. Though I wondered where Gordes was. I did spot him with the injured homunculi some time ago, but you'd think he might want to weigh in on this.
"I apologize for calling you all here like this," began Fiore, "however, an emergency has presented itself and I was hoping any of you can give some advice on the matter."
"It's regarding Assassin of Black," spoke Chiron. "We still don't know much about them."
I frowned. Was that what the old man wanted to talk about maybe?
"Take a look at this," said Caules, putting down today's newspaper. And on the front page's headlines, news about a serial killer whose methods are similar to the London serial killer, Jack the Ripper.
"Jack the Ripper?" Jeanne frowned. "You don't mean to say…"
"Yeah," Caules nodded, "the Assassin our faction summoned is the real Jack the Ripper."
"This article states that several people have been murdered, including some mages I believe," spoke the Ruler Servant. " I assume that these people were unrelated to the Grail War."
"I can confirm that," I spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Prior to the skirmish between the Red and Black factions a few days ago, Kairi Sisigou and I had been tasked by the Clocktower to look into the killings as we had no idea who the culprit was other than the fact that it was most likely a Servant since the victims who were mages were missing their hearts. We also concluded that Assassin of Black was the one behind the killings as no Servant of Red confessed to the killings and took the hearts for magical energy."
"So even the Association was worried about the killings," Caules nodded.
"Yeah," I nodded in turn. "Likely they wouldn't have bothered if it was just the mundane who were being affected and maybe let off the death of a mage or two. But all of them that were stationed in Sighisoara? No, there was a chance that the confidentiality of magecraft might be revealed to the public." I shook my head, "Still, whomever Assassin of Black is, they are well suited to the class given their rampage."
"And to top that off, eight of our people have not been responding to our calls," Fiore frowned. "It's more than likely that they're dead."
Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc, regarded her for a moment. "Say no more, you are requesting that I aid you in this venture, correct? And to defeat Assassin of Black?"
"Yes," Fiore admitted uncomfortably, "given recent events, these murders have limited our resources and Yggdmillennia is unable to handle it ourselves. To prevent any further damage, we need your help."
"You can count on me," Jeanne said resolutely. "Servants cannot be allowed to harm the innocent. As the Ruler Servant, I must abide by the rules of the Grail War system, despite what has happened to it."
"Thank you," Fiore smiled gratefully.
"This map shows where all our agents last made contact before disappearing," said Caules, putting down a map of Trifas with several locations marked. "And this is a matter of haste given that preparations to storm the Hanging Gardens are underway and will be complete in three days."
"Well, this should be a piece of cake," shrugged Astolfo. "Chiron has faced off with them once before, right? So he should know what to do. Not only that, but it will be four Servants to one."
"Three," Atalanta shook her head, "my Master and I have other business that we must attend to."
"Whaaaa? Laaaaammeee," Astolfo pouted as he crossed his arms petulantly.
"Regardless, Assassin of Black-" spoke Chiron before he stopped, a stricken expression on his face. "Master, do you remember what Assassin of Black looks like?"
"Hmm? Well, um…" Fiore frowned in contemplation before she paused. "What? How odd, I know I saw their face at some point…"
I looked over at Atalanta, whose face was also frowning in concern. "Atalanta, you saw them prior to your fight with Caules and his Servant, correct?" I asked. Unfortunately, I didn't see Assassin of Black's face for myself. Though to be honest, if they had a Noble Phantasm that was able to hide their identity and mess with people's memories, I wasn't sure if that really was unfortunate.
"I…" she placed a hand on her temple, "I am sure I saw a glimpse of them when they engaged Saber of Red and her Master after they came out of their fog, but every time I try to recall their face, the memory goes away or it's like it was never there to begin with."
Well, that's… annoying.
"Definitely the work of a Noble Phantasm or a skill innate to them," I sighed. "Despite the True Identity of Shirou's Assassin, that particular Servant class isn't well known for being able to use magecraft or spells."
"Agreed," Jeanne nodded.
"Ruler, if you had managed to see Assassin, would you be able to recall their face?" I asked her curiously.
"I do not know," Jeanne admitted unsurely. "If the origin of this ability was due to a curse, then perhaps as I do have a strong magic resistance against curses. Other than that, even I cannot tell if my abilities as Ruler would allow me that."
"Hold a sec, so besides us knowing their True Name as Jack the Ripper, we don't know anything else about them?!" Astolfo cried incredulously.
"Indeed," Chiron nodded, "which means we will be fighting against them with a distinct disadvantage."
"Wait a sec, I know I won't be there to help, but you should think this through," I interjected. "Enforcer 101, always know your enemy."
"But how?" Caules frowned. "Rider is right, other than knowing their True Name, we don't know anything!"
"Oh, but we do," I shook my head.
"Faelan? What do you mean?" Atalanta frowned.
"What does history say about Jack the Ripper?" I asked everyone. When they all hesitated to answer, I sighed. "C'mon, anything! Anything that jumps out at you when you hear the name Jack the Ripper besides the fact that no one can remember their face."
"Well," Fiore frowned, "no one knew who their identity was either when the original killings were made all those years ago."
"Um, the canonical five murders attested to Jack the Ripper were all prostitutes," added Caules.
"Yes," Chiron nodded, "those women were also killed usually by a cut to the throat and were disemboweled. Which is similar to the recent killings, so we at least know that Assassin of Black is without a doubt Jack the Ripper."
"Atalanta, you said that when Assassin engaged the old man and Saber, they were moving within the fog that enveloped the city?" I asked my Servant to keep the ball rolling.
"Yes," she frowned, "I couldn't get a clear line of sight on them."
"Neither did I when Master arrived in Sighisoara," Chiron agreed. "It was only due to Saber of Red unleashing her mana that cleared the fog that I was able to get a good look at them."
"Same with me," Atalanta nodded. "So then we at least know that the fog is an integral part of them. Which as an Assassin, would make them difficult to deal with as I remember that Saber of Red mentioned that the fog was poisonous."
"So we'll need to worry about the fog then," Caules nodded.
"Yeah," I replied, "the Servants might be able to ignore the effects for a little while, but anyone else that will be investigating Assassin's whereabouts should be properly equipped to at least counteract the poison or at least has a spell or tool that will allow them to breathe normally in the fog."
"Right," Caules frowned.
"Faelan, the time," Atalanta reminded me.
"Oh, right. Thanks." Standing up, I regarded the other again. "Sorry to leave like this, but we must really get going."
"Not at all," Fiore shook her head, giving a small. "You at least gave us some thought into how we would fight Assassin and allow us to be proactive in our efforts instead of being reactive. Thank you, Enforcer Ashford."
I gave them one last nod before I turned on my heel to leave the room, Atalanta following after me by my side. "Oh, and one last thing," I paused and looked at them over my shoulder. "If Assassin went AWOL, it's probably likely it wasn't under the orders of her Master. So I'd look into who is helping them as it's doubtful Assassin could get away with this all by themselves without someone at least giving them shelter."
"Sound advice," Jeanne nodded with a smile. "Thank you, your help has been most appreciated. It is no wonder you are an accomplished Enforcer given your instincts."
Idly, as I left, I noticed Atalanta looked like she had been punched in the gut, reminding me of yesterday, before giving Jeanne a shrewd glare, who was surprised by it, before the Huntress followed me.
"Uh, what was that?" I asked her.
"What was what?" she averted her gaze.
"That look you gave Ruler," I insisted.
"It's nothing," she shook her head.
I opened my mouth to continue to grill her about it but shook my head as I remained silent. Maybe she didn't like blondes or something.
…
"So…" I began awkwardly.
"Yes?" Atalanta looked over to me, a brow raised.
The two of us got to the camp well enough and we were currently putting things away in the bags first. The portable gear we could fold down and toss into the Gate of Babylon along with the overhead tents and bags once we finished packing.
"I had a dream last night," I continued. At her blank look, however, I decided to bite the bullet. "The "seeing the memories of Servants" kind of dream."
"Oh," was all she said before she lowered her gaze. "What was it this time?"
"A lot of things really," I rubbed the back of my head. "Look, Atalanta, your memories, your past, it's up to you whether you ever wanted to tell me or not. And having these dreams feels like I'm just rooting around your jar of secrets without your permission. I'm sorry."
She was silent for a long moment, staring at the kitchen utensils that she had been in the middle of packing. "No, you have nothing to be sorry for," she eventually said, looking up to hold my gaze. "Given what I know about you now, it only seems fair. You have told me in detail of your demons and while perhaps this isn't the more traditional way, I am not mad that you may know some of mine. To clarify, which of my memories did you see?"
"To be honest, I don't remember a lot of it. Seeing it all was kind like a jumbled up sequence of events," I shrugged sheepishly. "I do remember small snippets, though. Of your first meeting with Jason, when you spoke to Peleus and Heracles aboard the Argo, a conversation you had with Medea, the first time you met your father, and, uh…"
She frowned, "Yes?"
"When you lost the foot race against Hippomenes…" I replied awkwardly.
"Ah," her eyes narrowed as her gaze drifted off to the side, "that."
"I know it might not mean much, but I'm sorry that it happened to you," I shifted uncomfortably, but I had to say something, I didn't want the conversation to leave off like that.
Sighing, she put down the kitchen utensils and walked over to where I was, where I had set up my workshop."I had hoped that over time my father would stop insisting that I marry as I had no doubt there would be anyone who could defeat me in a race," she confessed, her arms twitching every so often, as if fighting the urge to cross her arms. Or rather, to create a barrier between us. "After all, what man would be able to defeat one who was raised by a goddess?"
Shifting so that my body was facing her, I remained silent, letting her tell her story. If she could listen to what happened to me in New Mexico, returning the favor was the least I could do for her.
"But then that despicable Hippomenes sought council from Aphrodite and that insufferable goddess gave him those damned golden apples," she growled, baring her teeth as she glared at the ground, her hand tightening into a fist. "But what was worse was not that I lost the race. What they took something far more important from me that day I lost than a simple race."
She fell silent, biting her lip in vexation.
"What was it?" I asked softly.
"My choice!" she exclaimed as she soon began pacing. "They took my ability to choose my fate for myself! I had gone back to Arcadia to only meet my father, if not to get his approval or love, but at least his respect that I became a hero known throughout all of Greece! I wanted to go back to the forests and rejoin Artemis' Hunters, to hunt in the forests till the rest of my days! Not stay in stuffy castles and clogged-up cities!"
It was then I realized that in all of my time reading through the legends and stories of the heroes of old, that they were people. And that the one thing a person never learns about when they hear or read stories of those heroes or figures long past, is what they wanted when they were alive. All that is recorded is their origins, their triumphs, their tragedies. But never the desires they had for themselves, it's like no one even bothered to ask them, what did they want. It was sad how easily people became more like symbols and less like people.
"But my damn father used my mother to coerce me to stay!" Atalanta continued angrily. "And before I knew it, he was pressuring me to marry a king, to continue his bloodline and start his gods damned dynasty! For weeks I thought for any way to get my father to stop and when I finally had that epiphany, I felt that the gods had smiled upon me." She then shook her head in frustration as her shoulders slumped, "Hmph, though it figures that not all were of like mind."
I didn't know what to say to that, because considering the old Greek stories, it was indeed rare when the reigning gods of Greece were unanimous in their decisions. Often, there was at least one disagreement in the decisions the Council of Gods considered for one reason or another. An example being Athena and Poseidon's rivalry, as the issue was brought up numerous times after their encounter in the city that would become known as Athens.
Not knowing really what to do, I decided to pull a page from Lin's book. Walking over to her, I wrapped my arms around her. And I could tell the action surprised her, for she stiffened at the random act with her hands to the side, not really knowing what to do.
"I know I'm not Lin," I said sheepishly, "but this is something she would do and you looked like you needed one."
After a moment, her hands went around me as she returned the embrace, leaning her head into my shoulder. She was trembling, chock full of emotion, but she wasn't crying, do doubt her pride wouldn't allow her to bring her guard down that much. Something of which I could relate to. I didn't know how long we stayed that way, just standing and allowing her to lean against me, but I wasn't in a rush really. Sure, we had to meet old man Sisigou, but I knew that this moment right now was more important.
Several moments later, Atalanta breathed in, almost shakily, before she looked up at me with an almost unguarded smile. "Thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome," I returned with a smile of my own.
…
Falling in love sucks…
Before either of us could say anything else, we were interrupted by the ringtone of my phone. The sound caused both of us to nearly jump, but it did cause us to move away from each other. Fishing out my phone, I looked at the caller ID and my eyes widened, surprised to see who it was.
"Sorry," I apologized to her sheepishly, "it's my boss."
"No, by all means," she shook her head, though I did notice a hint of red in her cheeks.
Filing that information for later, I answered the call and was about to say something when Barthomeloi beat me to the punch.
"Why is it, Ashford, that I am hearing you have been entered into that castaway clan's Grail War for the first time?" Lorelei hissed.
I blinked, "Excuse me?"
"The Great Grail War that the sham of an association of Clocktower rejects is holding, the one where apparently you had been sucked into while on vacation, ring any bells?" she demanded, her tone still holding even. And to be honest, I think that made it more frightening. "I remember granting your request, but I had never authorized the request for you to go to Romania. I do not need one of my assets on the off chance of getting dragged into a mess that has little to no reward."
She considered an omnipotent wish granter as something so trivial? Well, I guess I knew who to give the damn thing to if I won.
Wait.
She didn't authorize my itinerary to Romania?
Faelan, is something wrong? Atalanta asked me in concern via our mental-link.
I… I don't know…
"Ma'am, I received a letter from your office granting my request," I frowned, deciding to be respectful this time, realizing the gravity of the situation. I remembered getting the letter before I went off to hunt down a Sealing Designate that took a few days, which I came back from before going back to England to pick up Lin and then to the airport for Romania. "It had the seal and the wording was in line with your older letters."
"Then it is definitely a fake for as I said, I did approve of it," Lorelei dismissed and I could hear her release a small sigh. "However, this is moot considering you are neck-deep into the war. Give me a report of what has happened, the agents that the Clocktower sent in have not been responding. Would I be correct in assuming that they are dead?"
"Yes," I replied, "Assassin of Black has broken off their leash from the Yggdmillennia clan and has been targeting any mage, regardless of affiliation, collecting their hearts…" From there, I recounted everything to my boss. From how I gained possession of Atalanta's Command Seals, the fight with my uncle, the skirmish with the lamyros, registering for the War to the priest, Berserker of Red's suicide run to the Millennia Citadel, the investigation to Assassin of Black's murders, the battle a few days ago, Amakusa's betrayal and his plans for the Grail, and the fact that I unleashed the Gate of Babylon.
"Salvation of humanity, what a useless wish," Lorelei scoffed. "I commend you for joining forces with the remnants of the Yggdmillennia Masters, for I doubt you hid a plane in the Gate and Yggdmillennia's resources, albeit small as they are, are more than what you have access to at the moment given that you haven't contacted your family for assistance. What of the freelancer that is the Master of Saber of Red?"
"He has requested my presence while Yggdmillennia deals with Assassin of Black," I replied. "I will be on my way to him after this."
"I see…"
"Should I refuse?"
"No. Go see what the necromancer wants. After that and the end of the war, I expect you to contact me as to the fate of the War's conclusion."
Wow, she expected me to live up to the end. Though I couldn't tell if that was because she wanted me to live, expected me to live, or was ordering me to live. To be honest, I didn't know which one was worse.
"However, these lamyros you encountered in Baile Herculane…"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"No, it's nothing. A request was made to send in a team to eliminate them and their coven, however, all scans of the area have made no sight of them. Not that they didn't leave evidence of their presence, inactive Bounded Fields like the one you described were in the reports sent by the Church and have been dismantled. However, the request wasn't made by anyone in my office."
Palming my forehead, I resisted the urge to sigh. My fake letter of approval, the missing report of my request of a coven elimination, someone was messing with either me or the boss lady. They must either think highly of themselves or had a death wish, to mess with the Barthomeloi heir like this. I could only hope that when the boss lady found whoever the culprit was, at least left me some leftovers to get my pound of flesh in too. Moving my phone from my ear for a moment, I glanced at the time.
"Ma'am, if there's nothing else, I must get going if I'm going to meet Sisigou on time."
"Very well. Remember, Ashford, I am expecting your report when this is all over."
Rubbing my temples, I put my phone back into my pocket. Glancing over Atalanta, I saw that she had adopted a pensive look as she had continued in the packing while I was on the phone. Bless her soul.
"Did you manage to get all that?" I asked her.
"Yes," she nodded, "though I find it odd that whoever did this would go through these lengths to get you into the Grail War. Initially, I had thought for a moment that they were after Lin like the lamyros were, however, it doesn't add up given that your parents came to Bucharest to watch over her."
"Yeah," I frowned, "especially since their window of opportunity has long passed. Plus, my parents and Lin are back in England."
"Perhaps they are after the Gate of Babylon?"Atalanta suggested.
"Maybe," I thought about it for a moment. "Though it is only a possibility. However, it would be useless to them as I'm the only one who is able to open it. I gave it to my Dad and Barthomeloi to see if they could open it themselves, but it didn't do anything for them but sit there. Additionally, the only people who even knew I had the key to the Gate prior to the battle with Lancer of Black and Darnic were my parents and Barthomeloi, and none of them kept written records that I was in possession of it."
"Then what could they be after?" frowned Atalanta.
For several moments, I wracked my brain trying to think what the culprit could be after as Atalanta and I finished packing the gear. Tossing all the stuff into the Gate, I could only release a large sigh slowly as I couldn't think of anything concrete. I had thought maybe they wanted to steal Mugetsu for a moment, but then I realized that no one besides my parents, Touki Aozaki, and the swordsmith who made the blade knew that the metal used in its creation was not of this planet. And both the swordsmith and Aozaki had agreed to a geis scroll to hold their discretion, which left me at square one.
"We should get going," spoke Atalanta. "It is unhealthy to obsess over something we don't have all the information to and while the necromancer seems the reasonable sort, Saber does not."
"Right," I couldn't help but crack a smile, Saber really didn't seem the type. Hell, I could picture her complaining about us being late before demanding food or something. Turning my head over to the Archer Servant I spoke, "And Atalanta?"
"Yes?" she tilted her head a bit.
"I'm really glad that you became my Servant," I smiled at her.
She smiled back, "And I am glad that you became my Master."
Omake: What Faelan Thinks of Jeanne's and Sieg's Relationship
From above, in the Millennia Citadel's ramparts, Faelan watched Ruler pull Sieg to the side to berate the homunculus over something, a hand to his chin with his other arm crossed over his chest.
"Hmm…"
The next day, Faelan watched from behind a corner as Ruler seemed to fret over something while talking to the homunculus.
"Hmm…"
An hour later, Faelan's gaze was switching from Ruler to the shirtless Sieg while Chiron was examining the patches of black tissue scattered over Sieg's torso.
"Hmm…"
The next day, Faelan watched as Ruler seemed excited as she left with Sieg in the morning as bait in order to deal with Jack the Ripper.
"Hmm…"
The next day after Jack the Ripper was eliminated, Sieg and Astolfo were coming back from a visit into town and Ruler had gone out to welcome them back. As the duo plus Astolfo came back to the citadel proper, Faelan stood at the top of the stairs and took in a deep breath.
"Did you two fuck yet?!" he called out.
The reactions of everyone else differed; Sieg was baffled, Asoltfo was laughing his ass off, and Ruler was mortified as her face became so red it would've made every object on the planet that was red jealous.
"Seriously, Ruler," he continued, shouting down below, "this indecisiveness of yours is really starting to become annoying! Just fuck him already so that the rest of us can go on with our lives!"
Beside him, Atalanta palmed her face with an aggrieved sigh.
"Faelan…" she complained.
"What?" he looked at her with a frown. "You can't tell me that it wasn't annoying you too."
"It was, but you didn't need to shout it from the top of the castle," she pointed out as down below, Sieg was starting to question Ruler what Faelan had meant. To which the blonde Servant could only fumble around for an answer as she tried to get her emotions under control.
"Oh… yeah… good point."
AN:
More fluff again in this chapter, but I thought it prudent that you guys see Atalanta's perspective on things. Had to research a bit on her legend and I thought to myself, why wouldn't she be mad at how her fate ended up? Anyway, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but I noticed that I had passed my usual page limit for a chapter, so I split it in two. As a result, I will post Chapter 15 this Friday as I'm already almost done with it anyway. You lucky dogs, you.
In FGO, I am really glad for this break between events. After the number of spooks I got back in New Year, my QP has dropped significantly due to leveling them all and their skills a bit, as well as all the ascensions. Nevermore have I been glad that I have the Lancelot-Double Skadi 3-turn loop to make QP farming at most ten minutes before waiting for my AP to refill. I know the Kama event starts soon and all I have to say is; good luck to you crazies who will be rolling for her and Parvati for your Sakura-face collections. God knows you'll need it. Unless if you're incredibly lucky, in which case, congrats in advance.
See you guys Friday!