Chapter XVII
Where was I…?
Is this… snow?
I looked down at my hand, or at least I think I did, wondering why I didn't feel cold.
Am I dreaming?
I looked up and saw a tree in the distance, several trees. And then, I saw more trees all around me. Was I in a forest? Unsteadily, as if walking for the first time, I took a step forward, and another, and then another. Aimlessly, I ambled forward, trying to find… something, anything.
I don't know how long I walked, but I kept walking forward, it could've been minutes, hours. My gaze altered between looking up at the trees and looking down at the snowy ground, finding no signs of life, no birds, no animals, nothing. When I looked forward, I was startled when I found myself face to face with a pair of giant wolves. One had pale white fur, while the other had fur that was a white-blue.
The white-blue wolf stepped forward, teeth bared as it snarled at me. Before I could do anything, the white wolf snapped at the other, releasing a warning growl as it took a step in front of me. The white-blue wolf tried to circle around the other wolf, trying to get to me as it continued to glare at me with its yellow eyes. But the white wolf continued to keep itself between the other wolf and I. Soon, however, the white-blue wolf began to lose interest or its frustration at being denied its prey caused it to simply give up, as it gave a snort before it turned, slinking off into the shadows of the trees.
The white wolf turned its head back to me, staring at me with its pale yellow eyes. Regarding for a long moment, the wolf surprised me by pressing its snout against my forehead. The moment it did, I gasped as I felt… something. I don't know what it was, but it felt like something I had lost was brought back to me. The edges of my vision began to blur as that blurriness began to bleed closer and closer to the center of my vision. And the last clear picture I saw was the wolf look at me one last time before walking off into the shadows of the forest.
…
When I woke up, light was pressing against my eyelids. Rather annoyed with the light, I raised my hand to shield my eyes as I sat up. Opening my eyes, I looked around and found myself in an unfamiliar room.
Where…?
"Faust!" I gasped as I remembered the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious.
Anxiety began to grow within me as I looked around wildly. It wasn't long before I saw Mugetsu and my 5.7 Custom, along with my gear belt and holster, sitting atop the desk. Why would they keep my weapons so close to me?
"Hey, kid, awake I see," said Mordred as she materialized beside my bed.
"Saber," I frowned. "Why…? How long was I out?"
"The whole night," she shrugged.
"And everyone else?" I asked. "The old man, Atalanta?"
"They're fine, kid, relax," she shook her head with a small chuckle. "My Master's in his room getting some zees."
I still maintained my frown. It was a long moment before I finally decided to air my question. "What happened?"
"Hmm, well, I should probably start at the beginning," she sighed as she grabbed a nearby chair and sat in it in reverse, folding her arms on top of the backrest. "We headed to where you were at when you didn't respond on the radio or Archer. My Master figured out some way to track your phone, I think he called your dad or something."
Oh, I bet he enjoyed hearing that tidbit of news of me being kidnapped…
Again…
"We found you in Bran Castle," Mordred continued. "You know, Count Dracula's Castle? Anyway, we fought Faust's small army of ghouls and the first-generation magus soldiers she had. They didn't really pose a challenge, but they had numbers."
"I assume you killed them all?" I raised a brow, a smirk on my lips.
"And how!" Mordred grinned.
"What happened next?" I asked.
"Well, you died."
I blinked, "Excuse me?"
"Or at least I think you did," she shrugged. "I dunno, I kinda saw Archer holding your body and crying, so I'm kinda assuming here."
Atalanta… did she see me die?
"And this is where things get weird…" Mordred frowned.
"How weird we talking here?" I raised a brow.
"You kinda got possessed?" Mordred shrugged with uncertainty. "I am a Saber, so magecraft isn't really my forte. Look, next thing I know, your body started tearing through the castle and my Master had a plan of restraining you before the wolf showed up."
"Wolf?" I latched onto that. The wolves in my dreams… were they connected?
"Yeah," she nodded. "I managed to make a cut on you and this wolf popped right out of you and started taking you on. Well, that is, until it managed to pull whatever had possessed you out from you and started to fight that thing."
I was completely bewildered. "A wolf came out of me and tore out whatever possessed me?" I asked slowly, incredulous.
"Yeah, I understand it as much as you do," she deadpanned.
"Fair enough," I shrugged. "Then what happened?"
"Well, the wolf ate the thing that possessed you before somehow going… into you again." Here Mordred shrugged again. "Hmph, it really was a weird night…"
I blinked once, then twice. "It… went in me?" That might explain the wolves in my dreams, but then, why were there two of them? And why did one of them save him? Though the more pressing question was, why did one of them want to hurt him?
"Yup," Mordred nodded, "anyway, after that I drove us to a nearby city. My Master wanted to check you over to make sure you were actually okay."
Well, bless that old necromancer's heart.
But it was then I noticed something...
"Hey, where's Atalanta?" I asked, frowning.
"I dunno," Mordred shrugged, "you're her Master arent'cha? Shouldn't you at least be able to get in contact with her?"
"Yeah," I replied, trying exactly just that but… nothing. "But it's like… there's a block or something, I can't contact her." Or she's blocking me, though that was left unsaid.
"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that," she said as she stood up. "Archer kinda left when my Master figured out you were okay, though he was confused as to what you are now. Haven't seen her since last night, really."
My gaze lowered, staring at my hands. Saber was right. What was I now? Apparently, I had some sort of wolf inside of me. Was it a spirit? Was it possessing me?
"Don't sweat the small details, kid," Mordred chuckled, shaking her head. "Rest up, grab some grub, heal. Remember, we still have the priest to deal with after this. Take this as an order from your future king." With that, she turned on her heel and dematerialized as she walked away before I could question her further. At least about the king part.
Left alone, I placed my hands over my heart and focused on my magic circuits. I wasn't surprised to see the circuits glow red beneath my skin, but I was surprised to see more branches than what I normally had. I had more circuits and they seemed alive with more magical energy than I also normally had before. Did the wolf do this?
Hearing my stomach give a low growl, I sighed, "Might as well eat." Taking off the covers, it was then I realized I had been stripped down to my underwear. Who… no, it was probably better if I didn't air the question right now. Opening the Gate of Babylon, I took out a spare set of the clothes I wore, heading straight to the bathroom. Might as well take a shower to start the day.
Though, after my shower, I wiped some of the steam off the mirror in the bathroom and when I looked at my reflection, I was taken back. One lock of hair above my forehead had turned a silverish white. Not like premature graying, but that particular shade of white was eerily similar to a certain wolf…
Shaking my head, I decided to leave it be for now. Once in my fresh clothes, I walked out of the bathroom with a sigh of relief. Maybe I should head back to Baile Herculane before I leave Romania… and I'd probably have to go back once more after I deal with the shitshow awaiting me in Barthomeloi's office. Shaking my head, I walked over to the desk where Mugetsu and my 5.7 Custom laid and tossed them into the Gate of Babylon, as well as the tactical belt and holster.
Atalanta?
…
Still no answer. Sighing to myself, I left my room and easily found the elevator to the floor we were on. Nodding politely to other hotel guests who got on or left the elevator, my mind was focused on trying to figure out what I was capable of now. With an increase in the quality of my magic circuits, that were now almost on par with Lin's and with the additional increase in number of said circuits, which had numbered twenty-five, was now an even sixty, I would have to be careful with how I practiced magecraft. Well, besides runes.
Oh, wait…
Was it possible for me to overflow Mugetsu with mana? It would suck to accidentally break my sword just because I wasn't in full control of my magical energy, regardless of the fact that the metal used was still unknown. Especially with how much effort that had been put into the blade. Guess I would be practicing control exercises whenever I could, god that was going to suck.
Eventually, I found a place to have breakfast. Nodding in thanks to the waiter who delivered my food, I tucked into my food absently. Though I discovered that my appetite had grown more than I was normally accustomed to. Was it the wolves? As I was chowing down on my fifth round of food, I couldn't help but wish I had a better distraction. When I finished my food, I paid for my meal, or rather meals, and walked around the city aimlessly, my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. I didn't really have a destination in mind, I just needed to be doing something, and going back to the hotel didn't sound appealing right now.
Some time into my walk, my phone began ringing. Pulling the device out, I glanced at the collar I.D. and my eyes widened for a moment before I shuffled off to the side where I wouldn't be overheard, though that didn't stop me from idly drawing runes to prevent anyone, magus or otherwise, from eavesdropping.
Taking in a deep breath, I answered the call. "Hi, Mom…"
…
Sitting on the ledge of the hotel rooftop, Atalanta stared out at the city of Brasov, it was the closest city to Bran Castle. The necromancer had insisted on checking Faelan's condition, to ensure he wouldn't die or become possessed again. It had been only after she was assured by the man that Faelan was okay did she head up here to keep an eye on things. Though… it was more of an excuse to keep away from Faelan.
It had been her Noble Phantasm that had nearly killed Faelan, that had possessed him and almost caused him to go on a rampage. If it wasn't for the wolf, there was a good chance she would have been forced to kill her master if he had gone on a rampage, especially if the effects of the possession of the pelt had been irreversible. She would have owed him that much at the very least, a merciful death.
Still…
That didn't excuse the fact that if she had been thinking rationally, she would've never handed over the pelt to Faust in the first place. Initially, she had thought that Faust was simply after the Calydonian Boar pelt as a subject for her magecraft and she thought that the loss of the pelt was more than a sufficient price to pay for Faelan's release. She never would have thought of her pelt being used on another person, much less Faelan.
Placing her hand over her heart, that hand slowly tightened into a fist as Atalanta's form trembled for a moment. When she discovered that Faelan had been taken last night, she had been beside herself with worry as her anxiety grew.
"I had almost broken my promise," she whispered wryly, remembering the day she and Faelan had left for Sighisoara when little, sweet Linnet had asked her to watch over her brother.
Worse, she could've lost Faelan and she would've been the reason why he would've been gone. And that just made it hurt that much more.
The thought of losing him… she just couldn't bear it.
Her only consolation was that Faelan had been unconscious for the whole ordeal. She shuddered at the thought of Faelan being awake for it, there was no telling what had been done to him before they had arrived at Bran Castle. For if the necromancer had an inkling that might've occurred, he refused to say it.
But that was one irrefutable fact.
She had almost killed Faelan.
…
"... uh huh, yeah, that's about the gist of it," I chuckled with a sigh, having just explained all that had happened to Atalanta and I since we left for Sighisoara to both of my parents. Mom had gotten Dad and put the call on speaker on their end so that I wouldn't have to explain it twice.
"I have to say, son, Kairi put me in a panic when he called that you had been taken by Faust," Dad sighed. "I was almost tempted to have gone back to Romania… Three times you have been kidnapped and three times I found myself unable to do anything to help you…"
I shifted uncomfortably. If I had been through hell going through what Camden and Faust put me through, it must've been worse for Dad. Knowing that his only son had been put through tragedies and didn't know how to help.
"You know I don't blame you for any of it…"
…
"Anyway," I sighed, "I should get back soon. With whatever the wolf did to me, I won't be able to fight at my full strength since I have to learn what my new limits are. And I won't know them for a while."
"And Atalanta?" asked Mom. "How's she holding up?"
"I…" I hesitated. "I don't really know. I know she's still in the city, but she's blocked me off for some reason. The last time she was this upset was when back on the train to Sighisoara."
"Oh? What happened?" asked Dad.
Right, while I had mentioned the train ride to the city, I never broached what had occurred while we were on it. "Sorry Dad, Mom, I don't want to intrude on her privacy," I said apologetically.
…
"Er, is everything okay?" I asked as the moment of silence prolonged.
"Hmm… no it's fine," said Mom with an odd inflection in her tone. "You better go, Fae, that girl of yours needs you."
I blinked, uncomprehending what she meant before it hit me. Feeling my cheeks warm, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "Mom!" I hissed indignantly.
"You really oughta make a move, kiddo. This restraint of yours really is starting to get annoying," was all my mother said before she hung up the phone.
I stared at my phone helplessly for a moment before I raised my free hand to massage my temples to alleviate my headache, slipping my phone back into its pocket. Shaking my head with a large sigh, I turned on my heel and started making my way back to the hotel.
Hopefully, Sieg and the others had dealt with Assassin of Black by now. The one unknown that would've had me worried would've been Assassin's true Noble Phantasm. For a Heroic Spirit whose identity was unknown, they would have a significant advantage in that their Noble Phantasm could quite literally be anything, hell it could be all of London itself. Even the Hassan i Sabbah who were supposed to be only Heroic Spirits who were to be summoned in a Grail War as Assassin, their legend was known and quite legendary as the Old Man of the Mountain.
"Still," I sighed to myself, "I'm probably worrying for nothing, they do have Ruler on their side after all." It was then I smelled something familiar, following the scent, I found myself in front of a building.
Huh… well, I might as well come with a peace offering…
…
When I arrived at the roof of the hotel, I found Atalanta sitting on the ledge, overlooking the city and everything about her just screamed gloom and melancholy. To be honest, I was taken back because I've never seen her like this. Taking in a deep breath, I walked over to her and stood next to her. However, much to my confusion, she trembled a bit when I had done so and from her expression, she looked very skittish. As if a cat that was two seconds away from running if I made the wrong move.
"May I sit?" I asked.
Wincing, she gave a nod.
I sighed as I sat next to her, however, me sighing seemed like the wrong move for she winced again and shifted away from me. To be honest, I didn't know what to make of this, never before had I ever seen Atalanta so… meek.
"I brought you pizza," I offered, placing the pizza box in the space between us.
"O-Oh… thank you…" she said in a subdued tone.
But the box remained untouched between us as the moment of silence prolonged. I didn't want to speak first as to spook her and get her to clam up. However, as the time passed that it had been almost an hour since I arrived, I was beginning to grow worried as all she did the entire time was fidget with her fingers, avoiding my gaze.
"Atalanta," I spoke softly, "what's wrong?"
Again, she didn't say anything for a long moment, and I realized whatever it is that's been bothering her was really important if she was this distressed. Tentatively placing my hand on her shoulder, I tried to convey whatever assurance I could muster.
"Please."
It was then Atalanta finally looked me in the eye, though it strayed to upward for a moment, and it was in that split second I realized she had looked at the now white lock of hair on my head. Regardless, my surprise came from seeing her eyes red from crying as tears still leaked down her cheeks.
"Atalanta?" Alarm grew within me.
"Please," she rasped, "stop staring at me like that…"
I was dumbfounded, "Like what?"
"With such care," she wept, inching away from me again. "Please, stop, Master. I am undeserving of such care from you."
At first, I had thought that she was trying to keep away from me, but it was then I realized that she was trying to keep herself away from me. As if she was the mad beast who needed to be kept away from others. But why? What would make her feel this way? What exactly happened while I was unconscious?
"Atalanta," I spoke resolutely, "you are my friend. You, out of everyone I know, are worthy of my care, to be worried over." Here I gave her what I hoped was an assuring smile. "Especially when you are this distressed." However, instead of my words assuring or comforting her, it seemed they were like nails in a coffin with how bad she was wincing through her tear-filled eyes.
"Master, please," she begged me, her eyes turning downcast, unable to look at me anymore.
Reaching over, I gently placed my finger below her chin and gently urged her to look up at me again. "I'm sorry, Atalanta," I smiled wryly at her, looking at her bright green, tear-stained, eyes. "Unfortunately for us both, I'm a little selfish."
That finally managed to get some laughter out of her as she chuckled at me.
"Yes," she smiled, "that is indeed unfortunate for us." Leaning back, she took in a shuddering breath before she wiped away her tears. "Master," she looked at me sorrowfully, "when you had first told me of your harrowing experience in New Mexico, I admit it shook me, to know that a child had suffered greatly. When you fully described what Faust had done to you, I swore to myself that I wouldn't let anything hurt you." Here her expression grew to one of self-mockery. "And yet it wasn't Faust who had killed you…"
I frowned a bit. What did she mean by that?
"It was I whose actions that had led you to your death," she admitted miserably. "Faust demanded that I give her the pelt of the Calydonian Boar to her. I had hoped that by giving it to her, that would buy me some time. I never would have expected for her to use it on you."
I blinked. I had a Noble Phantasm in me?
"Saber said I was possessed by something," I muttered aloud, a frown on my face as I began to piece things together. "Was it your Agrius Metamorphosis?"
She nodded, crestfallen.
I looked down at my open hand, trying to figure out how I was even alive. The Calydonian Boar pelt would never have worked for me, the fact that it didn't burn up my body from the beginning it entered me was a miracle in and of itself. If it really wasn't for the wolf (wolves?) I would either be rampaging all over Romania or I'd be dead.
Still…
I didn't blame her.
Reaching over, I placed my hand on Atalanta's shoulder. "I don't blame you, Atalanta," I smiled, watching as she looked at me with wide eyes. "Atalanta, you did everything you could to try to save me, save for killing yourself. Though if you did, I'd be extremely disappointed in you. There would be no way for you to foresee Faust using the pelt on me."
"Yet, I still gave it to her," she whispered.
I stared at her for a moment, realizing that there wasn't any way for her to let this go so easily. "All right then," I spoke, getting her attention. "If that's how you feel about it, then you should be punished for your actions, shouldn't you?"
Her eyes widened a fraction before she bowed her head to me, "Yes. As your Servant, I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit for my failure."
I shook my head with a small smile, before raising my hand and gently chopped the top of her head with a knife hand. "There," I said when she looked up at me in confusion, "your punishment has been administered.
She continued to stare at me, completely bewildered.
"For the record, Atalanta, I could never hate or blame you," I shook my head.
"Why…?" she uttered, as more tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.
I opened my mouth but stopped myself. I was about to say that it was because I loved her, but to be honest… I didn't know how she'd take that. And part of me was a little scared she would reject me.
"You're my best friend," I said instead, "and to quote Lin, best friends are forever."
"I see," she smiled, chuckling a little, though it had come out a little raspy. "Amazing how a child can be wiser than us adults, is it not?"
"Yeah," I shared in her laughter before eyeing the pizza. "You know, we should probably eat this right now, it'd be a shame if we ate this cold."
Atalanta looked down at the pizza box with a regretful smile. "Ah, yes, you're right."
"After you," I offered her, opening the box.
She took a slice with a nod of thanks, "Thank you, Faelan…"
Taking one for myself, we quietly ate as we watched the bustling city below us. Though I did notice Atalanta peeking glances at me every so often, but before I could say something, she had already looked away. Part of me wanted to ask, but the other part of me told me to keep my mouth shut. Atalanta would tell me when she was ready.
…
Back in the hotel room, Mordred was chowing down on a slice of pizza the kid had gotten her from his walk back. Bless the kid's heart, doubly so since he got her three pizzas all for herself. As she was idly eating, she was watching a movie where some giant robots were fighting giant monsters on the hotel television. It was kinda a shame that she never got to get on the good side of the Caster of either faction, she would've bugged them to make her a giant robot to fight the Grail War in. It would've been fun as hell!
"Gnn," grunted Kairi as he woke up before yawning. "Agh, what time is it?"
"Two in the afternoon," Mordred answered absently as she chewed on the crust of the pizza slice she was finishing.
"Did the kid wake up?" Kairi stretched as he made his way over and reached for a slice. Only for Mordred to slap his hand away rather harshly. "Oi!"
"These are mine!" Mordred narrowed her eyes before jamming her thumb over her shoulder at the lone pizza box on the counter. "That one's yours."
"Fine," he grumbled with a sigh as he walked to the counter and grabbed his pizza, it was still a little warm, before joining her on the couch.
"To answer your question, yes, the kid is awake," Mordred said as she got a new slice. "He woke up this morning and went for a walk, came back with the pizzas."
"Okay," Kairi frowned. "Where is he?"
"Up on the roof with Archer," she shrugged. "They've been up there for a while."
"Doing what?" he asked as he started on his first slice.
"Talking, I guess," she shrugged again, her eyes back on the television, "I only went up there once in spirit form to check up on 'em and saw that they were eating their own pizza and talking. They've been up there for an hour, give or take."
"The kid seem okay?" asked Kairi.
"He doesn't seem any different from before what happened, if that's what you're asking," Mordred answered, "but if your question is medical wise, no idea. I am only a Saber after all, that kind of stuff is more up a Caster's alley."
"Right," he sighed.
To be honest, he didn't expect any change much in Faelan's status besides an increase in magic circuits and their quality. But when his adrenaline was running, his heart, or rather his new reactor core, would be churning out magical energy like a factory. It would enhance his strength, his reflexes, his power. He wouldn't be able to fight one on one with Servant… yet, but with time and training, who knows? Right now, the kid's limit was his boss in terms of equal strength and she would be more than happy to increase the value of one of her investments, even if he did surpass her in power and strength.
"Oi, Master, you should eat your pizza if you don't want it to go cold," Mordred idly chided him as she started on a new pizza box.
"Right, right," he chuckled as he continued eating.
…
Sometime later, I was sitting in front of the old man in my hotel room.
"So…" I said, "what exactly did Faust do to me? Saber gave me the basic rundown of what happened last night and Atalanta told me that it was her pelt of the Calydonian Boar that possessed me."
"Up to that I can give you some sort of a clue," said Sisigou as he steepled his fingers together in front of him. "But before I tell you, have you unsealed the last of the memories of what happened in New Mexico?"
"No," I shook my head, as I considered what he was really asking. I had thought about unsealing the memories when I got back from this Grail War. But at this point, what was really missing? "But tell me anyway."
"All right then," he sighed. "So at the end that cult messed up the summoning ritual for the Lesser Grail War they were in and instead summoned a phantom instead, which according to Faust's notes was the spirit of Lobo, the Wolf King of Currumpaw."
"You mean the one in the short story by Ernest Thompson Seton?" I raised a brow.
"I think?" Kairi frowned, before shaking his head. "Sorry, kid, American literature isn't really up my alley."
"Fair enough," I shrugged.
"Anyway," he continued, "the cult realized they screwed up and tried again, but failed in that attempt too and were somehow able to reach to the Reverse Side of the World and managed to summon an Amaroq."
My eyes widened. Amaroqs were Phantasmal Beasts that were widely worshipped by the Native Americans as gods before those wolves joined their fellow brethren in traversing to the Reverse Side of the World. Speaking of which, how the hell were they able to breach the layers separating this world and the Reverse Side? Only Phantasmal Beasts and Divine Spirits should be the only ones capable of doing so.
"It was then the cult managed to tie Lobo's spirit into the body of the Amaroq using the chain that had once tethered him," explained Kairi, unaware of the thoughts going through my head. "After that, well, the new Entity started attacking them just as your mother and the team started their assault on the place. Faust was fleeing that scene when she stumbled on us, but before she left, she saw the Entity… fuse with you, for a lack of a better term."
"Fused with me?" I tilted my head, confused.
"My guess it lay dormant within you as its existence was unstable," he shrugged. "A phantom and a Phantasmal Beast fused together on this side of the World? My guess it was two seconds from either blowing up or disappearing altogether and used you as an anchoring point as Gaia would've no doubt sensed the odd existence before long and would've dealt with it."
"Why me though?" I frowned.
"Who knows, kid?" he shook his head. "Just count your lucky stars it did, apparently the cult was pretty liberal in using your blood as a catalyst for their summoning. If it wasn't for the Entity, you would've died of blood loss before long."
I was silent for a moment, digesting that information. I technically had two spirits within me besides my own, the Amaroq, and Lobo. I had read the short story Lobo the King of Currumpaw out of boredom once, but I remembered that Lobo was a great gray wolf that roamed the Currumpaw Plains and had some notoriety of killing farmers' livestock. Several methods had been used to kill Lobo; poison, traps, and firearms, but none of it worked. Seton, the author who experienced this tale, had thought of trapping and using Lobo's mate in order to lure him, which had worked as the corpse of Lobo's mate had drawn him in. Seton, however, did not kill Lobo and wished to parade him as a trophy, but Lobo refused the food and water given to him and eventually died.
If Lobo's spirit did briefly inhabit the Amaroq before inhabiting mine along with the Amaroq, then it would make sense as to why one of the wolves in my vision looked like it, or rather he was ready to tear my throat out. Because he actually was. But then, that begged the question as to why the Amaroq was willing to defend me. One would think that it would be just as mad to have been summoned from the Reverse Side against its will.
"Kid?" the old man prompted.
"Sorry, got lost in thought," I apologized. "What were you saying?"
"I don't know if Atalanta gave you the rundown on what Faust did to you last night," he said, "but she told me and I'll say it either way. Faust used some sort of magecraft and the chain that the cult used as a catalyst to summon Lobo, apparently they originally thought it was the Chain of the Heavens."
I almost laughed. The last remnants of the links of the Chain of the Heavens were carefully stored in the basement of the Ashford Manor. It had been the first of many that officially started the collection by the Ashford family of the remnants of weapons left by heroes long past.
"With those in conjunction, somehow Faust was able to put the Calydonian Boar pelt into you," Sisigou continued. "You had died for a brief moment, no doubt due to your body reacting negatively to a foreign and demonic entity being introduced to it. Shortly thereafter, you became possessed by the pelt and had almost gone on a rampage outside of Bran Castle if not for the Entity breaking free and pulling the pelt from you."
"So what exactly was Faust's end goal for me?" I couldn't help but ask.
"According to her notes, she believed that the Entity was in actuality an artificial Servant," he answered with a frown, glancing at the notebook sitting on the coffee table between us. "But she also believed that since it was artificial it wasn't as strong as even a low-quality Heroic Spirit and had been roaming for any material that could enhance the Entity. That is until she found you and Archer in Baile Herculane."
My eyes widened, was Faust the one who I saw back then?
"She doesn't say who told her of Archer's True Identity," frowned Sisigou, "but she started researching Archer's legend and latched onto the idea that the Calydonian Boar, or at least its pelt, was a weapon Archer could use and thought the combination of an "artificial Servant" and a demonic pelt would create a powerful weapon."
"Yeah," I mumbled, looking down at my palms, "for me."
"Yeah," he nodded, "your core has been changed to that similar to a magical reactor core on top of the magical circuits you already had."
"And to think, I turned down the Ashford family crest," I shook my head as I chuckled sardonically. "Apparently fate decided, "No, Faelan, you don't get what you want. So here's a reactor from a phantom/Phantasmal Beast Entity never seen before in the history of all magecraft instead!" I gave a long sigh, "Is it really too much to ask for what I actually want?"
"Most mages would be thrilled to have learned they have a reactor core, you know," the old man smirked at me.
"I think it's pretty clear I don't really conform to mage norms, old man," I deadpanned.
He barked a laugh, "Yeah, you really don't."
Sharing in his laughter, we eventually calmed down as a long moment of silence fell in the conversation.
"So what now?" I asked, breaking the silence. "Head back to Trifas?"
"Yeah, we probably should," the old man nodded. "Got a message from Yggdmillennia this afternoon, they dealt with Assassin of Black last night."
"They mention how that went?" I asked curiously.
"No," he shook his head, "but probably as well as you might think."
"Hopefully none of the Servants kicked the bucket," I sighed as I leaned back in my seat. "Otherwise, attacking Semiramis' Hanging Gardens is going to be difficult…"
"Yeah, no kidding," the old Necromancer grimaced. "Lancer and Rider alone are enough of a match for just the two of us. Add in a Caster who no one has ever seen, an Assassin who is capable of magecraft, and the priest himself. Well, it's a good thing you became Archer's Master instead of Berzinsky."
"Yeah," I couldn't help but nod.
Regardless of the fact that someone was screwing around with the boss lady, me being in this Grail War proved beneficial. But I couldn't help but wonder, who was the one who forged the approval papers, and what exactly were they after? After a long moment as the two of us got lost in our respective thoughts, I glanced at the clock.
"You know, we should probably think about dinner plans," I said to the necromancer, "I can already hear Saber whining about food."
"Yeah, we probably should," he sighed.
"Well, dinner's on me tonight," I shrugged as I stood up from my seat. "Think of it as a thank you for saving my ass."
"Your funeral, kid," Sisigou grinned, no doubt referencing how much food Mordred could put away.
Thank god employment under Barthomeloi came with a hefty paycheck. Otherwise, it really might as well have been my funeral.
…
With a loud gasp, Faust's eyes snapped open as she awoke.
"Ah, finally awake are we?"
Her eyes snapped around and quickly found the speaker of the voice, a young man who wore rather casual clothing, no-name brands. Which meant that she wasn't dealing with a fellow magus, even the poorer families tended to have some modicum of wealth and wore decently expensive clothing.
"I… I died," she rasped.
"Indeed you did," the man grinned. "A bullet to the head, I'm afraid. It was quite the pickle, healing that."
"Why…?" she uttered. "Why save me?"
"Why not?" he laughed.
Faust narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you?"
The man's grin never changed, "Ah, introductions, of course. Do forgive me for not properly introducing myself." He gave a rather extravagant bow and from it, he then looked up from his bowed position, "My dear, you may call me Marcus."
AN:
Wassup my readers! I am finally done with college! Turned in my last research paper, done my last final. All I've got left is graduation and then I'm job searching. Anyway, I digress, this chapter is shorter than most but I felt this was a good place to end it for now. Since I'm done with college, I now have a lot more free time, therefore I can write and review my own chapters more. So I'll probably have chapter 18 done next week, on Monday at the earliest and Thursday at the latest. The Apocrypha arc is almost to a close and I will say that there are only four more chapters for this arc before Faelan's story becomes more original and deviates from the Apocrypha canon.
In FGO news, we're in the middle of the Reines Case Files event and I've been farming and killing demon gods over and over. Brought back Nyalter because I have her Quick skill at 10 and honestly I can two-turn the demon gods with a double Skadi set up. I think I'll roll for Avenger Nobu in June and then after that, I'm done rolling for Servants for the year. Well, besides any guaranteed 5-stars. My 5-star wish list consists of Scathach, Saber Okita, Merlin, and Dantes. And speaking of summons, I rolled Astraea on my obligatory 10x roll just to say I tried and my reaction was, word for word, "What the fuck?" Anyway, I wish everyone luck in rolling for her and Reines, I know Reines is awesome in Arts teams but Skadi ruined me and now I'm a hardcore Quick team guy, though I am a Buster casual.
Stay safe and see you all next time!