Bars of sunlight slanted low from an open doorway as the late afternoon turned to twilight, casting long shadows on columns and painting stone walls and illuminating what seemed to be the sole occupant of the complex as they walked through. "Where is this place?" muttered Ritsuka Fujimaru again for what seemed like the hundredth time as he tried to get a good look at his surroundings.
Earlier, Ritsuka had awakened with a start as they quickly took in the unfamiliar surroundings, this wasn't the first time they had discovered that he was no longer at Chaldea after being roused from sleep, in fact to be honest they had lost count at this point. But what made this situation strange was usually, they would encounter something almost immediately that gave them cause to be weary. Instead, they had spent what seemed like several hours wandering the abandoned hallways, seeing signs that someone was maintaining this place, but seeing no indication of anything living aside from his own echoing footsteps.
Ritsuka felt their annoyance grow ever so slightly as he passed through entering what seemed to be a courtyard overlooking rows of crops. For what reason were they here? Every time they found themselves in a similar situation like this there was always a purpose, but there was nothing here. No obvious threat to human order, no rouge servant trying to make contact, not even the unnerving feeling of being watched. "Where is this place?" he said letting some of his irritation seep in.
"My Villa, fool boy" said a tired and weary voice.
Sharply turning at the unexpected response, Ritsuka saw a figure robed in white, the first he had seen in half a day, sitting in an old wooden chair overlooking the setting sun and started back, for it was one of the most disarming sights he had ever seen. The figure, no the man, seemed to age almost at random. One heartbeat Ritsuka would swear that the person sitting there was a youth probably no older than himself, the next heartbeat the figure was an old man near the end of his life, another heartbeat he seemed to be in the middle of those two extremes.
"So you are my next unworthy successor," said the man. "It always does pain me to see someone so young try and play this part I made, although I'm aware of the irony behind that statement. I will say however that it does seem a rather long time since the last one made his way here, but then again time does not flow normally here-"
Trailing off as he saw Ritsuka for the first time all traces of weariness suddenly vanished. His appearance was still in constant flux, but the very air about him seemed to change.
"Who are you." he said in a tone of complete command, "You are not one of mine who will shortly take up the purple and the imperium it will bestow, I suspect you're not even a ruler of a foreign land. How did you get to this place"
Stumbled back again at the unexpected barrage of questions and by the force of them. Ritsuka tried to form a response and stopped halfway as he met the man's eyes, oddly they were the only part of him that seemed to stay the same despite everything else. Now blue then gray depending on how the light hit them, they were accusing, weighing, intrigued, old yet full of life. They froze him in place.
"Who are you?" the man said again.
"Fou-"
Ritsuka woke bolt upright as a small furry creature hit him on the forehead, causing it to be flung halfway across the room. Breathing heavily at first, he gradually started to relax as he took in the familiar surroundings of his room and finally noticed the thing that woke him up. "Fou? What are you doing?" The creature now crouching in the corner seemed to radiate indignation at its rough treatment as it eyed him, glancing at the clock next to his bed Ritsuka started to piece together why. "Ah, you must have noticed I had overslept and came to wake me. I'm sorry Fou I was having a rather odd dream and was startled when you did. Come on I'll get you something from the cafeteria as an apology".
This seemed to improve Fou's mood well enough and as Ritsuka started to get ready he tried to shake off the last effects of the night's dream, however there was still something that was nagging at him. Thinking back at the figure he let out a small shudder, that was certainly the most uncanny thing he had seen in awhile. Strangely that man didn't quite give off the feeling of being a servant per say, at least not a proper one that is. And even stranger, despite his changing appearance the man appeared faintly familiar somehow in hindsight.
"Who are you?" Ritsuka softly said, unconsciously echoing the man's first and last question to him as he, along with Fou, made their way down to Chaldea's main cafeteria to start the day.