Again, apologies for the wait, one of the keys on my keyboard malfunctioned and I found out how awful it is to write words without the letter H. Needless to say that was a major factor in the wait for this chapter. I do apologize for how short this is and for how long it took. I should be doing better for the next one, again I am so sorry.

Septem: Triumph

The doors to the throne room closed behind Nero and she turned to face the Chaldeans...the human in the group who looked extremely pale and breathing hard.

"Well, that was quite the entrance!" Nero beamed, "At least things have settled down,"

"Speak for yourself," Cu Chulainn pointed out as Cira sat down on the floor, taking long and shaky breaths, "Master?"

"I've never expected the streets to be that packed," Mash said, kneeling down next to Cira and putting a gentle hand on her back, "You were squished pretty hard...are you alright?"

Cira shook her head violently as she shut her eyes and seemed to curl into herself.

"Breathe, Master," Artoria soothed, kneeling down on the other side, "The crowd is long gone. There is nothing to fear,"

"Why." Cira finally croaked, "Why were there so many people…"

"People tend to crowd around their returning king," Artoria explained, "That is something that happened even in my time. My knights and I had to be careful that we did not trample a citizen under hoof. I should have done a better job of finding a horse to set you upon…"

"She doesn't like crowds?" Nero wondered.

"No, Master's claustrophobic," Lily said, "Small enclosed spaces or crowds of people are not things she's comfortable being in."

"I will remember that for next time," Nero nodded, "Praetor, stand,"

"Give her a moment," Cu Chulainn growled, his scarlet gaze glaring at Nero's green one, "This isn't something you can just snap your fingers and wish away."

"Mash did an excellent job of protecting us, however," Nero smiled, "None of us were trampled, though that does make me wonder. Mash, do you dislike being touched?"

"Huh?" Mash blinked, startling, "W-Well...I don't care for it…"

"Interesting," Nero hummed, "Well, as expected! The great warrior of the shield swore loyalty only to me. That makes me like you even more,"

There was a flare of negative emotion from Cira's end of the bond and the Chaldean Servants looked at their Master in...almost worry. But Cira was too busy trying to calm herself to speak. Mash's face flushed in embarrassment as she scuffed a boot against the tile.

"That's...nice of you to say," Mash said, "But I'm Cira's Servant first and foremost. My loyalty is to her."

Nero opened her mouth to respond when the doors burst open and a soldier rushed in.

"Your majesty! The expedition force is on it's way back to Rome!" he panted, sweat dripping to the floor as he put a fist to his heart and bowed.

"What?!" Nero demanded, "They're coming back?!"

"They're both alive and well," the soldier reported, "But they've been tied down by an attack by the United Empire."

"Of all the times this could have happened…" Nero groaned, "I'm sorry, Cira, Mash…"

"We understand," Mash nodded before turning to Cira, who seemed to have got herself back under control, "Your orders, Master?"

Cira got back to her feet with Cu Chulainn's help and looked at her Servants, nodding.

"Let's go help them out," she said, turning back to Nero, "Who are we looking for so we don't accidentally stab them?"

"Their names are Lu Bu and Jing Ke," Nero said, getting some odd looks from the Chaldeans, "They just appeared in the foothills one day and I convinced them to join us. Lu Bu is a behemoth of a man, doesn't talk much but is a storm on the battlefield. Never seen anything like it. Jing Ke is a smaller woman, dressed in flowing white...kinda looks like a courtesan but is really handy with a dagger. It's sometimes very hard to find her and she just appears from thin air sometimes."

"Likely Servants," Romani piped up, "Judging by the fact Nero said they just appeared...could be similar to what happened in France with Elizabeth, Georgios, Kiyohime and Siegfried,"

"Or here with Boudica and Spartacus," Cira wondered, "Opposition to the Grail then...I know that Servants are one man armies on their own but...if the United Empire's got Servants there too then they're going to be overwhelmed...right?"

"That would be correct," Artoria nodded, "While we may be able to handle armies on our own, armies as well as a hostile Servant would be problematic. There is also the potential that they are with regular Roman soldiers, normal humans."

"Then there's no question about it, let's go save these two," Cira nodded.

"Those names didn't sound Roman or European at all," Cu Chulainn pointed out as the Chaldeans made their way to the sounds of battle ahead of them, "Should be able to pick out those two Servants I guess?"

"Lu Bu and Jing Ke are both from the eastern hemisphere," Romani explained as they came atop a hill, "They're likely to look very different from the Roman Soldiers they're with for sure."

"You mean those two in the middle of the army surrounded by enemy soldiers?" Cira asked, pointing at a man who seemed more mountain than human and a tiny woman whose white robes seemed as mist around her.

"...Yeah those two are definitely Servants," Romani confirmed.

Cira turned towards the others.

"Welp, you guys heard him. They're the ones that we're looking for, let's get them out, ok?"

"We shall take on the army," Artoria nodded.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Cu Chulainn agreed, "We're one man armies on our own...which makes me wonder why they're having such a problem…"

"Don't want to hurt humans I guess...plus comes down to the fact they still have their own men to worry about,"

"Yeah I guess that would do it," Cu Chulainn nodded, "Oi, your majesty, bet I can take out more than you can,"

"Are you challenging me again?" Artoria asked with a raised eyebrow, "Do recall what happened the last time you did so,"

"BOARS AND BEARS DO NOT COUNT!" Cu Chulainn yelled.

Cira shook her head and turned to Mash and Lily.

"Let's let them argue on their own," she suggested, "Save Lu Bu and Jing Ke now,"

"Agreed," Lily smiled, "I think they'll get on with it when they notice we're gone,"

With that, she gave a light-hearted laugh and dashed forwards. Cira shrugged and nodded towards Lily, following as Mash stayed between her and the danger around them. Not long after that she saw twin bolts of blue shoot past all three of them and splinter off into the enemy army, carving through them as they did.

"Looks like they got their act together," Cira noted, ducking as Mash blocked an arrow that had been shot at them, "Look, we're almost there."

The woman Cira guessed was Jing Ke seemed to float around the battlefield like a butterfly, her white gown fluttering as she deftly turned every thrust against her with her dagger.

"Jing Ke?" Cira called, getting the woman to look up at her, frowning, "Emperor Nero sent us! We're here to help!"

The dark haired woman's green eyes turned thankful as she murmured a prayer heavenward.

"We'll talk later," she shouted over the din, nodding at the blue and white flashes that shot through the enemy, "Take it they're yours?"

"Yeah," Cira nodded, "Them and Mash here are mine."

"I want to get as many of these people out as possible," Jing Ke said, "These men are tired and just want to go home."

"Got it!" Mash called, turning towards Cira, "Your orders?"

"Help get these men out," Cira said, "I'll help there but only so much I can do,"

She turned her attention back to her other Servants.

"Artoria, Lily, Cu, we're gonna try to get as many men out as possible." Cira instructed, "Stay safe ok? Take out the enemy and keep casualties to a minimum,"

She heard the varying nods of affirmation as the three Servants tore through the enemy backline with assistance from Lu Bu and Jing Ke. Cira started helping the wounded out with Mash defending her, getting the slightly healthier soldiers to drag them to a safer spot where she then knelt down and began to help the army's healers with the treatment of the wounded...mainly fetching water or holding the bandages while the healers worked. By the time they had gotten the last soldier at least not at death's door, the battle was over.

"I don't know who you two are," Jing Ke said, "Nor who those three are...but thank you. We honestly would have lost a lot more people today if you hadn't shown up,"

She resheathed the dagger she held and extended her hand.

"Now that I'm not nearly on the verge of being killed...I'm Jing Ke, Assassin Class. Like you, I am a guest commander under Nero Claudius. I thought I was going to be killing multiple emperors but that turned out to be somewhat of a lie."

She shook her head in slight amusement before laughing.

"I don't know whose bright idea it was to make me a general," she admitted, "I'm...not exactly a general type. My focus is reconnaissance and assasination,"

"As expected of the one who almost succeeded in assassinating the First Emperor," Romani piped up, "This many emperors should be pretty enticing for you then,"

"They're nothing but boys pretending at being emperor," Jing Ke said, "Not worth sinking my dagger into. However, that does not mean I will not help...as you can see, I've been helping. Lu Bu has be-"

She stopped, looking for the other Servant.

"He must have gone chasing again...he'll be back soon. He always does," she told the Chaldeans, "I don't think I caught your names though?"

"I'm Cira and this is Mash," Cira introduced, "We're...not from around here shall we say."

"Oh that's not surprising," Jing Ke chuckled, "I can tell you aren't from here. Not even this time judging by how Cira is dressed and that armor is certainly not from this era either. But Lu Bu and I are here to kill "emperors". We've already killed three of them...so I think it's going to be a competition between us."

"We've...knocked out two so I think you're winning." Cira replied, "Besides, I've already got two over competitive Servants, I don't want to have at it with another one."

"Oh you're no fun!" Jing Ke grinned, "A little competition is healthy! You've only killed two but there's still time to catch up! Once we return to Rome I believe that Nero will start her full on invasion of the United Empire. That is where the race will begin. We count the heads of "emperors" or enemy generals. Our team vs your team...heh, now I have something to look forward to!"

"Something to look forward to…?" Mash blinked, "Well...um…"

She turned back towards Cira with a helpless expression on her face. Cira gave an equally as helpless shrug as she heard the returning chatter from her other three Servants.

"Oh thank God they're back," she thought, turning to face them, "Lancer, Saber, Lily! Good to see you guys are ok!"

"The battle was not a hard one, Master," Artoria replied, seeming a little off to Cira, "In fairness, I thought it would be a bit more challenging and there would be more,"

"Don't mind her, she's just salty she lost," Cu Chulainn preened.

"By one, Lancer," came the curt reply.

"Still one less than me!"

Artoria's face turned a shocking shade of red and Cira raised her voice again.

"Let's just...head back to Rome, yeah?" she started, giving a slightly nervous laugh, "We'll figure out what to do from there!"

Master: Cira Albion

Servants:

Servant: Shielder- Mash Kyrielight

Servant: Saber-Artoria Pendragon

Servant: Lancer/Caster-Cu Chulainn

Servant: Saber- Saber Lily

Servant: Berserker- Spartacus

Servant: Rider- Boudica