Here we are again, it has been a while since I posted the last chapter but that is because I took a break from writing and such. Video games became a priority Lol. Also, work. A whole lot of work. But hey, at least I am finally back at it again and with some new plans. Thankfully Cam is a Fate fan like I am, and a much deeper one than me. He makes everything easier.
Beta: CrowSkull
Beta Dos: Cam
The Seventh War
Chapter 4
Blue electricity crackled all across the alleyway, lighting it up entirely and removing any dark spots that the Master of Berserker could use to make use of his magecraft in the most efficient way. Francis stretched his fingers and flipped his hand over so that his palm faced the sky, and curled his fingers. The lightning melded into the remains of the shield that Berserker's Master had created to trap Aza and overloaded it. Destroying it from the inside out, and causing shards of pure energy to fall and shatter harmlessly against the ground. The blue shine dissipated in an instant as Francis dropped his hold on the electric magecraft, the only glow present within the entire alleyway was from Azael's Saber Servant, who protected her Master with her body and was prepared to guard her with her life. Francis took one glance at that and nodded, Aza was being protected and was out of harm's way. That meant that there was no reason to hold back.
Light shined from his eyes and he spotted the girl that wielded a simple knife in her left hand. She stared at him with wide eyes, a color that he couldn't distinguish from the distance he stood away from her. He wasn't concerned with her, he sensed no magic from her body. Which meant the only way that she could possibly get close to him as if he let her.
With the hand that held his Command Seals, he shot his hand forward. "Attack my Servant!" He shouted.
The Berserker Servant's eyes were still glowing a vibrant purple, which gave him away perfectly in the dark. Susano flashed away in a wave of electricity and appeared behind the enemy, stabbing him through the shoulder and pinning him to the floor as he stomped down on his shoulders. The Berserker let out a roar of pain and out from his body came an aura of deep red. Susano leaped back with his sword the moment he saw the flow coming, landing gracefully on his feet on top of a metal dumpster. He whipped his sword to the side, ridding it of blood and took form, balancing on one foot as he stared down the Berserker.
The red aura faded and the wound Susano had dealt him healed in moments. Susano narrowed his eyes, noting that ability and committing it to memory. "A Berserker who heals when damaged?" The Assassin remarked, chuckling to himself. "That's problematic. It looks like the only way to kill you for good would be to cut off your head or do so much damage in a single strike that you cannot heal fast enough."
"RARGH!" Neither confirming nor denying his claims, Berserker lunged toward the Assassin. Susano danced around the Berserker, flipping over him first as he tried to grab one of his feet and using his head as a stand to jump away and up onto the brick wall above them. He locked onto it and Berserker jumped after him, jumping away before Berserker could get too close. Susano leads the enemy Servant away to the farther end of the alleyway and up to the rooftops. Leaving Francis alone against the enemy Master and his accomplice. Susano wasn't all too worried, however, the Saber Servant under Azael was present as well. As long as they were allied, his Master would be safe.
Francis noted that the man was gone and instinctively turned around and jumped back. Shadows stabbed out at him, but none even grazed him as he waved a hand across his body. Willing a force of cold wind infused with light purple energy to blow them away. The light emanating from the defensive attack made Francis narrow his eyes. As he landed he fell low, planting a hand against the ground.
The little girl from before let out a quiet yelp as a tall wall of ice raised from the ground, blocking her off completely from the Master's and trapping her in the other half of the alleyway.
"Smart boy!" The enemy Master exclaimed as he dove at him, clashing a shadow-guided blade against Francis' ice-encased forearm. "You are already more fun than the girl!"
He refused to give this terrible man acknowledgment. "Frō-Gandr!" Francis shouted instead. A black orb of white and blue letting off a freezing aura shined and exploded into the enemy Master's chest. Shadow enveloped his sternum and protected him from the initial explosion, but it didn't stop the force of the impact against his back as he slammed into the brick wall meters away. Berserker's Master landed on one knee and let out a ragged breath, feeling the wind knocked out of him and quickly scanning over the surrounding area told him that he was at a disadvantage.
"He uses Shadow Magecraft!" Azael screamed out to him as she forced herself to stand on her one uninjured leg. Her Servant stood by her side. "Make sure that there are no shadows for him to use against you!"
Francis figured that it was something like that, but wasn't aware of Shadow Magecraft. He grit his teeth as he glanced back to the enemy Master. He already molded into the wall, hiding away in the darkness. Francis cast more light with another spell, but the enemy was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, he kept his back toward the Saber and Azael, turning only to shout at the Servant. "Why aren't you helping me!?" He screamed at her.
The Saber only glared back at him with a hateful glare. Why!? What did he do to deserve such discontent!? He had no idea but now he knew that he couldn't rely on Saber's assistance. If she worked with him to kill Berserkers Master he'd already been dead, but instead, she just stood back and watched. It was pathetic, and he was going to be sure he got a damn good reason for it after this was done.
Before either of them could continue the wall of ice that he'd created earlier exploded out toward them. Saber protected her Master, using her body. Whereas Francis was forced to jump down to the floor and cover his head lest the shards of ice do more than just graze him. As he stood back up he rolled to the side, hearing feral roars and screams and the sound of a sword slicing through the air. He cracked one eye open and watched up close just how violent and impossible a battle between two Servants really was. Berserker was bleeding from a dozen wounds, and to his worrisome shock, Susano had a gash on his exposed shoulder, slowly dripping blood.
The two of them kept battling in the center of the alleyway ruthlessly. Instead of helping, Saber grabbed onto Azael despite her screams for her to stop and help them and took her out of the alleyway. Francis followed suit. Pushing himself up to his feet and running for the exit before the battle between Susano and Berserker got too intense for him to be close to.
"Stop moving!" Berserk screamed in a frustrated, raging tone as he once again wildly missed a strike that went sailing past Susano's face.
"Move faster!" Susano shouted back as he ducked under the next strike, and too close to use his huge sword effectively, opted to slam his shoulder into the Servants torso instead. Though his low strength stat worked against him, as the Berserker was only pushed back a few feet, however, it was still enough so that Susano could get his sword back out to defend himself. Berserker changed forms suddenly and fought with much more precision, catching Susano off guard and actually landing a strike for once. A clean one that left a bruise on Assassin's belly. Susano grunted as he slid back against the concrete floor, using his sword to slow his retreat by stabbing it into the ground.
"For such a strong-looking man you are pathetically weak in your strikes!" Berserker exclaimed in a peal of egotistic laughter as he healed from his many wounds. Blood dripped down his body even after it was done. Though there was a noticeable strain to his voice as he inhaled and exhaled deep labored breaths. "This battle excites me! You are a warrior, just as I am. You've earned that much respect."
"I'm not done yet," Susano claimed as he stood and swung his sword through the air, letting out a single deep exhale, he remained against the Berserker. "I think it's time I show you what speed really means since it seems you have discontent for it…"
"Go as fast as you want," Berserker said as he crouched down low, his muscles bulged and pulsated disturbingly as he challenged the Assasin to come at him. "It won't mean anything as long as I can land a single hit on that fragile body of yours. Just how much more do you think you can take? Two hits, I landed. And you look like you're just about to keel over."
"Is that what you think?" Susano barked out laughter as he stroked his beard. "My… You really are arrogant. Are you really a God? Hah, I guess I am not one to talk." Susano crouched lower and held his long notched katana in one hand down and at a short angle. His eyes shined a bright blue as lightning began to crackle from them. From above them, a storm cloud began to brew in the sky. Rain began to trickle down and drop off of his straw hat. Berserker widened his eyes as fourteen shurikens were thrown and intentionally missed his body.
"Kaminari no dansu... Zōfuku!" Susano chanted in a foreign language.
Lightning struck Susano's blade in a loud blast that left Berserker's ears ringing even when it was gone. He blinked, and that was all that Susano needed to see as his signal. He phased away into a bolt of lightning too quick for Berserkers' eyes to see. A shallow gash to the back of his knee had him dropping down, and another had him slamming into the wall. Each strike he felt a jolt of electricity coursing through his body, locking up his muscles and making it even more difficult to keep track of the moving form of lightning as it dashed to each and every shuriken around him. Berserker, confused, and still trying to figure out what was happening, looked around desperately for any sign of what to do.
Francis watched in shock as lightning burst around the alleyway surrounding Berserker. "Is this your Noble Phantasm?" He asked out loud in his awed state. It could be and it could not. He honestly had no clue what a Noble Phantasm even looked like, though at the very least this was one of Susano's most powerful abilities. Berserker barely had a clue of what to do or look at. He just curled himself up in a turtle-like defensive pose and tried to outlive it. His healing became so strained that it began to create enough heat that it evaporated the rainwater that fell on his body. As his muscle fibers tried to stitch itself back together, it was cut once more. Susano wasn't just fast, he was literally as fast as lightning. No, as fast as thunder.
From the corner of his eye, he saw something in the shadows move. As he turned toward it he saw nothing, but as he looked further up the building he saw something scaling it. It had to be the Master of Berserker. He was planning something. Francis pushed himself back up to his feet and raised one of his hands, carefully aiming it at the corner of the rooftop. He let out a hissing curse as he found out that he was too slow. No, that wasn't it. He didn't want to risk hurting anyone that was still within the building, probably scared for their lives as they wondered what the hell was happening right outside their home. It was a wonder already how the cops weren't already on them, but he decided to focus more on the task at hand as luck continued to be on their side.
He prepared to use his magecraft to give himself away to scale the building himself but stopped as he stopped feeling the rain drip down his body. He then felt exhausted all of a sudden, dropping down to one knee as he nearly felt the need to pass out. His magic circuits flickered over his body, failing him. Exhausting him. He looked back to Susano's battle and noticed that he was no longer fighting as lightning, he was back in his normal form, and noticeably tired as well. How much mana had they been using? It must have been too much, now he has to rely on his magic crest so that they could-
"Now we leave Berserker!" The enemy Master exclaimed from on top of the rooftop that Francis had taken note of earlier. "This is our chance! I fear that we have overstayed our welcome already!"
"Urgh…" Berserker strained as he stood back up. Staggering forward and against the wall. His healing was still just as fast, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt or didn't tire him. "Fine… You're lucky that you caught me off guard, whoever you are." Berserker said as he turned to Susano, who was also down on one knee and catching his breath. "I won't be so easily fooled a second time. When we next meet, I'll be the one to bring out my full strength."
"Good luck with that," Susano muttered as he pushed himself up to his feet. "Cheating bastard…" He added as Berserker dematerialized.
"Boy!" The Master of Berserker exclaimed from the rooftop. "I'll be seeing you again soon, haha!"
Francis frowned at the cockiness of the individual but was willing to let them get away for now. Thankfully as he activated the power of his family's magic crest he felt the exhaustion fade away quickly. Now mostly back at full strength, he spared a grateful and proud nod to his Servant as he moved toward Azael and the Saber Servant. However, he didn't dare step closer as the Saber drew her sword once more.
"Stop right there, Master of Assassin." Saber warned, glaring him down.
Susano stepped in front of him, also brandishing his weapon. "You ought to be careful where to point that sword," He warned back. "It didn't work out for you that well the last time, did it? Oh wait, you're a Servant now." He grinned as Saber widened her eyes angrily at him. "That is all the answer I need."
"Amy, what are you doing!?" Azael asked as she leaned on a car for support. "Don't attack them, they are not our enemies."
"Not your enemies," Amy replied. "But he is not one that I can tolerate. I wondered why your Servant didn't materialize alongside you when we first met, Francis." She remarked. "Now I know why… this treacherous brother of mine would have made me break the rules of no fighting while the sun is out."
"Brother?" Francis widened his eyes as he suddenly pieced it all together. Susano told him the other day, this Saber Servant was Amaterasu. The Kami of the Sun. He should have believed it earlier, he knew that lore of Susano quite well. He just chose to deny it. "It doesn't matter what happened in the past!" Francis exclaimed in a desperate attempt to calm the Servants down. "This is thousands of years in the future! Whatever the two of you did to each other, that's in the past. Inconsequential to the world today."
"Inconsequential!?" Amaterasu's sword caught flame. In response, Susano once more enchanted his own sword with lightning. "You know nothing of which you speak, mortal. You have no idea what he has done! No idea what he brought upon my kingdom! My people, even me! If you have any sense, you'd use one of those Command Seals and order him to kill himself. At least that way he won't be able to stab you in the back later."
Susano just remained quiet, glaring at the Saber Servant, but not even uttering a word. He simply held his stance and waited for an attack to come.
"Amy, don't!" Azael called out to the Servant.
"This is the perfect chance to get rid of you two before you become a problem," Amaterasu said as she started moving toward them. "My Master is already vulnerable because of you, Francis. And you… brother… cannot be trusted with anything. I will-"
"Shit…" Francis' eyes began to glow as he drew power from his magic crest, frost beginning to radiate from his hands as he prepared for another battle. Susano did the same. "Looks like we have another fight on our hands… Don't hurt Aza, please, she has nothing to do with this."
"She isn't the one I am concerned with," Susano replied, still glaring daggers at his sister as he took steps forward to meet her. "At least this way we get it over with, let's see if you-"
"By my Command Seal," Azael began to chant as a red glow came from her hand. She looked pained as she sacrificed one of her precious limited spells. "I order you to never harm Francis or his Servant. Obey me!"
Amaterasu staggered forward and trembled as she was forced to sheathe her blade. She slowly turned toward Azael with shock in her eyes.
"Dematerialize, Saber," Azael said as she dropped her hand. One of the spells faded away. "We'll talk about this later."
Obeying her Master, Amaterasu faded away into golden sparkles. The moment she did, Francis let out a sigh of relief and Susano sheathed his blade behind his back.
"Aza!" Francis rushed to her side, letting her lean on him the moment he got close. "Are you okay!?"
"I'm okay," Azael replied with a nod. "Just a stab wound, I can have Masuru heal it for me. I just need to get back."
"Let's go right away then," Francis said as he picked her up in his arms. She was too tired and drained to put up much of an argument like she usually would. Simply slumping against him as he lifted her off the ground.
"Not yet, Master," Susano warned as he turned around, hand on the hilt of his sword. Francis turned to see what he was talking about, quickly realizing what he meant when he saw two men across from them on the sidewalk. One of them so obviously a Servant, by the way, their wings were spread out wide and the other having to be his Master. "We are not yet alone."
"Were you the ones that did this?" The Oriental man asked. He had a sword sheathed at his side that he has yet to draw. His Servant remained with his arms cross, not speaking a word as he looked around what was once a battlefield.
"We were fighting the Berserker Servant," Susano answered as he stepped back closer to Francis. "I can't fight another Servant while we're like this. I'd lose if we don't have enough mana to sustain ourselves." He said through their mental link.
Francis frowned as he shook his head. "They haven't attacked yet. There has to be a reason for that. The other Master has to know that we are sitting ducks like this."
"Here's hoping…"
"We fought until a standstill. I'd say we won… but they got away before either of us could get too hurt." Francis said as he held Aza closer.
The other Master noticed her. Of course, he did. It wasn't like Francis could hide the fact that Aza was hurt at that moment. Though Francis' hopes soared as the man sighed and looked sympathetic.
"There is no honor in defeating exhausted foes." He said to himself quietly with a shake of his head. "My name is Lao Rān. I was hunting the Master you most likely fought. But it seems that I have arrived too late to intervene. What is your name?"
Francis hesitated before answering. "Francis," He replied honestly.
"Francis," Lao repeated to himself. "You are not my enemy this night. Consider yourself lucky that you ran into Berserker before I did. I may have not been so forthcoming if it weren't for that." He explained as he crossed his arms and stepped onto the street away from them. "Let them through, Servant."
Lao's Servant stared at them for a moment, locking eyes with Susano before nodding his head. Susano nodded back and sheathed his blade. Without saying a word, the other Servant flapped their wings and flew into the sky and onto the nearby rooftop where Berserker's Master and his accomplice escaped to.
"Thank you," Francis said with a grateful nod. Meaning it wholeheartedly.
"Do not mistake this as a proposal for friendship," Lao said. "This is the only time I will let you through without issue. Next time, you best be ready for combat."
"I'll remember that," Francis said as he stepped past him. Though before he got too far for Lao to hear him, he stopped. "Don't regret this decision. We don't know what might happen in the coming days and nights. I thank you for now, but when the time calls for it is it just as you said, we are still enemies."
Lao smirked as he nodded his head in agreement. "That we are, fellow Master. That we are."
"Are you sure that was a wise decision?" Horus asked as Lao investigated the location where Francis and his allies fought Berserker and Eren Vex. He noted just how destroyed it all appeared, and the leftover ice and scorch marks plus all of the fallen debris just made it all the more destructive. Not to mention the blood. The walls and floor were covered in it.
"We will just have to wait and see, Archer," Lao said as he stood up from his position. "Did you see them? Children, they were. I imagine that they are hardly into their twenties."
"Hmph, by that age I was already running an entire kingdom." Horus pointed out, smiling to himself at the pleasant memory. "Do not underestimate young men and women, or even children. Let your guard down for even a moment and they will surprise you."
"Hm, you are correct. I surrender my point then." Lao reminisced about his own children. Each of them was young children, both under five years of age. Both girls, which would have caused a problem with succession back in the days where gender mattered as heirs. Not now, they were safe all the way across the world and wouldn't step a foot back in the country until the war was over and done with for weeks. "Nevertheless, would you have done the same if you were in my position? I thought about it, truly, I did. They were right there, injured, exhausted, but yet they were still ready to fight back. I could see it in their eyes."
"I might," Horus replied with a simple shrug. "I might not have. I could have beaten the blue one, but there was another Servant nearby. Dematerialized at the time, but at any moment it could have become a two on one. I don't know their strengths and weaknesses on top of that. Clearly, the two Masters we let by are allies considering the way the boy was carrying the girl."
"Then maybe it was the smarter idea to leave them be," Lao said with a chuckle. "There is nothing for us here Archer, Eren Vex, and his allies have gotten away. But considering that the Servant we just saw was able to fight Berserker and even drive him off is impressive. Keep that boy in mind, he will be an issue to deal with in the coming weeks."
"Hm," Horus hummed, as much confirmation of an agreement that Lao knew he was going to get. "Be careful with that honor of yours, Master. I was also one who chose to follow a code, and I did so even as my brother went on a reign of terror throughout all of Egypt. Honor is good to keep order and prevent chaos from ensuing, but that honor kept me from becoming a kinslayer for much too long, and by the time I finally did what needed to be done my kingdom was destroyed, by land invaded by a foreign nation, and everything I knew, lost." Archer looked at him with those golden eyes of his, Lao met them and knew better than to off her condolences to someone so far above him. "Do not be a slave to honor as I was, that is my advice to you, Master."
"I will take your advice under deep consideration," Lao said with a subtle nod of his head. "Let us return home, for now. The sun is going to rise in an hour."
"Not enough time to resume our hunt," Archer surmised. "Yes, let's go."
Fists slammed against the door to the home of the Exabon's and Masuru would have prepared herself for combat if she didn't hear Azael's voice on the other side. Her red eyes widened as she saw a boy holding a very injured girl in her arms. His eyes were also wide and frantic, he looked exhausted as if he had run through a storm and hell's gates in order to get there. His smudged face stared at her, and recognition seemed to flood through his features before he let himself in.
"Aza's hurt," Francis pointed out the obvious to the homunculus. "You can heal her, right?"
"Yes," Masuru said as the boy allowed her to take Azael in her own arms. "What happened to her?" She asked as she turned and ran up the stairs, Francis followed her close by, refusing to fall behind even an inch as he ran by her side down the hallway on the second floor of the mansion.
"She was ambushed by an enemy Servant. She got stabbed right as I got there, I think it must have hit an artery."
"It might have nicked one," Masuru said with a nod as she looked down at Azael's thigh. Her face was flushed red and it was clear that the exhaustion got to her long before Francis got her there. "You there!" She called out to another servant. "Go get Adrielle, he will want to see his daughter." The servant ran off in the opposite direction without uttering so much of a response. In the next moment Masuru fumbled with a doorknob to try and get into a side room, Francis made sure she didn't have to for long as he grabbed it and nearly knocked the door off its hinges with how hard he threw it open. Masuru didn't care for any damage as she was too concerned with her mistress. She set Azael down on a bed and without warning, cut off the entire pant leg around the stab wound.
"What can I do to help?" Francis asked frantically as Masuru planted her hands on the girl's leg.
"Nothing," Masuru replied, her magic circuits glowing vibrantly as she activated a healing spell. "Allow me to work and Azael will be fine. Now, tell me who you are."
"You don't remember me?"
"Should I?"
In a word, yes. But Francis took one look at the homunculus and immediately realized what was wrong. Instead, he shook his head and sighed, noticing his mistake. "No, I'm sorry. My name is Francis, I'm a… friend of the family, so to speak."
"Francis Glacier?" Masuru asked as she mended Azael's wound.
"Yes… that's me. How did you know?"
"Azael was once very talkative with me. Or so I remember…" Masuru sighed. "It is good that you are here then. Adrielle has been waiting for you to return, or so he says. I don't remember much about you myself, but I do know that you are telling the truth."
"Good," Francis sighed out of relief as he placed a hand on Azael's forehead, feeling her fever slowly dwindling the more Masuru did her work. "That makes things much easier."
"Azael!" Adrielle cried out as he entered the room, quickly taking the spot that Francis vacated the moment he heard the man enter the room. Adrielle placed his hand on Azael's head and stroked her hair out of her face. "Oh, you stupid girl, what happened?"
"As Francis here says, she was attacked by a Servant," Masuru explained.
"She wasn't hurt by the Servant from my knowledge," Francis made to explain as Adrielle's eyes locked onto him the moment his name was mentioned. "She was stabbed by an accomplice of the enemy Master. I saved her before she could get killed, and with the help of my Servant we fought and drove them off. I rushed her here the second the coast was clear."
"You saved her life then," Adrielle gave Francis a warm smile as he patted him on the shoulder. "I thank you for that, Francis. It has been too long since I've last seen you and already you have given me a reason to like you again." With a grateful laugh, Adrielle looked back to his daughter and let out a sigh. "Is she going to be alright, homunculus?"
Francis flinched at the way Adrielled addressed her. Masuru didn't seem to care. She nodded her head and replied, "I've stopped the bleeding and began the healing process. She will be sore when she wakes up but she will be able to move when I am done. She will be regaining consciousness soon."
"That is a relief," Adrielle said with a short laugh. "Poor girl, she is not going to like this when she wakes up. Well then, now since that is handled," He looked back to Francis with a knowing grin, Francis felt awkward all of a sudden. "It's been a long time, Mister Glacier. I haven't seen you since you were a boy. Did I not say that you could visit whenever you wanted even as my daughter departed for Japan?"
"I…" Francis scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry about that, it just never really occurred to me to stop by. You're a busy man and I had my own things to worry about."
"Nonsense boy, we both know that I would have made time for my daughter's suitor," Adrielle pointed out. "A shame that you seem to have been chosen as a Master but… that doesn't mean that arrangements can't still be made. You are allied with my daughter I presume."
Francis nodded his head. "Yes, I am."
"Good, then when the war is over and done with we can finally get you two together and-"
"Is this really the time for this?" Francis cut him off, moving closer to Azael as she began to wince and slowly wake up. "I'm sorry, but I just got out of a battle for my life and the last thing I am worried about is the arrangement that you've been wanting to be set up for us ever since we started getting close. We were lucky enough that it worked out in the beginning but… just not now, please."
"Hm," Adrielle turned his chin with a scowl. "Very well, if that is what you wish." His eyes scanned the room a second time, noticing that there were fewer people in there than he'd thought there'd be. "Where are you, Servants? I do hope that none of them were defeated."
"My Servant is recovering from the battle, dematerialized. Aza's… I don't know. She used a Command Seal on her and since then she hasn't popped up."
"She's used a Command Spell!?" Adrielle asked, shocked. He moved over to Aza and lifted her right hand, confirming that a third of the marking on that hand had faded away into her skin. "That foolish girl! It's only the second night and already she's wasted a precious Spell? And on what!?"
"She used it to save my life!" Francis exclaimed, coming in defense of the unconscious girl. "Her Servant was about to attack me!"
"What!?" Far from calm, Adrielle's anger simply shifted from one woman to another. "Saber, explain yourself!"
"I don't need to explain myself to you," Amaterasu said as she materialized beside Masuru, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed and glaring at them both. "You are not my Master. My reasons are my own, but now I cannot lay a hand on the boy or his treacherous Servant unless that Command is overwritten."
"And for good reason," Far from calmed down, Adrielle glared daggers at the Saber Servant. "Just what did they do to deserve such disdain from you? This isn't like you, Saber. When I first met you I was struck with an image much more honorable. Yet you attack the boy who has done nothing but assist you and my daughter?"
"It is not him I have a problem with," The Servant corrected. "It is his Servant."
"What Servant could possibly have irked you like this so quickly?"
"You have no idea what territory you are stepping in!"
"... Ergh…" Azael groaned, causing a halt to their argument as she raised a hand to rub her eyes. "Stop arguing please, I just woke up…"
"Aza!" Francis exclaimed as he was by her side in a second. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I think so." Azael said as she sat up. "A little sore, but my leg feels fine. Thanks, Masuru."
It was rare that Masuru got any form of gratitude from the girl. She nodded her head with a satisfied smile on her face. "Of course, I was happy to help."
"You two can continue bickering later," Francis said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his muddled white hair. He grabbed the hoodie that he wore and wrenched it off his body and threw it over his shoulder. Underneath his, the cyan collared shirt he wore was just as wrinkled and messy. Buttons were popped out and out of place. The consequences of the way he was moving around just before coming through as it appeared to be simply hanging from his body rather than being worn by it. The exhaustion finally appeared in his eyes as soon as Azael woke up. "I just came here to get Azael the help she needed and I did that. Adrielle, it was… alright seeing you again. Aza, you know how to get in touch with me whenever you want to. I'm glad you're okay," He said as he gripped her hand and squeezed it."
"Thank you," Azael said, gripping his hand tightly with both hands. "Seriously, thank you. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."
"Yeah, me neither," Francis replied with a laugh. His grin died quickly as he turned to Amaterasu, who was still looking at him but thankfully not with the death glare that she had on him before. He thought about saying something to her but thought better of it. Simply nodding his head in her direction instead.
Adrielle stood in his way for a moment before letting him leave. He didn't turn back as he did so, letting the boy exit the room and therefore out of the mansion. When the door shut behind them, he waited a moment for the tension to settle in. Now that he was gone, Adrielle didn't need to pretend anymore.
"I'm disappointed in you, daughter." He said, looking down at her with crossed arms. "Down a Command Spell. Nearly killed. And you had to be saved by a Magus whose family's name only has merit because of him. If he wasn't so gifted I'd be more disappointed. I didn't expect a failure of this magnitude from you this night. Girl."
"..." Azael remained silent, unable to come up with anything that could ward away her father's anger. It was the disappointment that bothered her more.
"Nothing to say? I suppose I should have expected that…" Adrielle shook his head. "Well, at least something good has come out of this. Francis has come back into our lives. I knew you couldn't help but seek him out soon after you returned. I've always seen what the two of you were like when you were younger, I've always encouraged it, and you were happy to oblige. Still, it seems, he's still head over heels for you." He leaned in, displaying a disturbing grin that was probably meant to be more teasing than it was. "Though it seems that his feelings are more than reciprocated. He was always the one person other than myself that was able to melt through that cold heart of yours. I can see why you've always thought him much more special than all others. Combined with his powerful skills as a Magus… it really is a good match, isn't it?"
"Stop where you are now," Azael warned. "This has nothing to do with him. We're in the middle of a Holy Grail War in case you've forgotten."
"All the more reason to plan for the future," Adrielle explained. "As much as you despise it you are my heiress, which means that you are my legacy. Which means that he must be kept alive for as long as possible. I severely doubt any other boy would put up with that personality of yours, so I expect to hear that his Servant is killed at the end of this battle and you are declared the victor. Make our wish, and then the children you produce afterward will be very interesting to see."
"Get out," Azael growled, pointing to the door. She refused to look at him. Refused to let him see her the way she was now. She couldn't be vulnerable around him. "I don't want to hear your sick ideas anymore. Get out!"
"Very well," Adrielle backed off and laughed. "I don't understand why you always get like this whenever I bring this up. I was put through the same thing by my own parents, as was your mother-"
"OUT!" Azael screamed.
Adrielle complied with an amused hum. Leaving his daughter alone with Masuru and her Servant. Amaterasu reached forward to try and comfort her Master, but the moment her fingers touched her shoulder, Azael lashed out. Slapping her hand away and telling her to go away as well. That was understandable, as just before she forced her to use a Command Spell on her, which led to a portion of Adrielle's anger. Amaterasu complied with her Masters order. Stepping back and turning toward the rising sun coming through the window. She went down onto her knees and shut her eyes, beginning to meditate as the sunlight colored her features.
Masuru stepped forward and gently placed a hand on Azael's knee. Her face shot up and her angry, sorrowful tears were dripping down her face. The homunculus showed no pity for her, she just simply smiled at her, ever so gently. Azael sobbed and looked away, lying down on the bed and pulling the covers over her body. Masuru leaned back and sat on a nearby chair, waiting for the next moment that her mistress would need her. As was her sole task in her short lifespan.
Carlos paced back and forth uncomfortably as he kept watch to make sure that no one was watching his weird fucker of a Servant was digging up a hole in the middle of a cemetery. At first, he was more nervous that Baron was actually digging up one of the graves but was only slightly comforted by the fact that there was no gravestone where he was digging. His thick, black strong hands stabbed into the grass like it was snow, and in mere minutes a hole a good three feet deep was made in the center of the cemetery.
"Are you done yet?" Carlos asked as he looked up at the sky. Caster had been trying to convince him to bring him to the nearest cemetery for hours beforehand. He was lucky enough already that the sun this time of year rose late and settled early. Not to mention that he'd been busy the entire day managing his members and sending the strongest ones all around the city as scouts in order to see if they could locate any signs of other Servants or Masters. AJ was kept in the home base, it was safest for him as he wasn't a fighter like his older brother or anyone else for that matter.
The blue of the sky to the west was quickly surrendering to purple, red, orange, and yellow as the sun rose in the east. They had less than an hour of relative darkness, surely. But despite that Carlos was still nervous as he wondered sheepishly what Caster was intending to do. "The sun's rising, you said we can't be caught out in the light yeah? Well, I'm guessing that it's time to go pretty soon."
"Not just yet, Master." Caster said, raising a hand toward him and wagging one, dirty, pitch-black finger. "And I said that we could not do battle in the sunlight, not that we can't be seen. This is an interesting state anyhow, the citizens of this city have less care for others than I was honestly prepared to experience." The Servant laughed as he adjusted his top hat. "It really is a dog eat dog world, don't you think? Oh, silly me. Don't bother answering that question. You are the leader of your own gang, of course you'd think similar to myself."
"I have a feeling my way of thinking is a little less fucked than yours," Carlos remarked.
"Most definitely," Caster allowed as he stood in the hole that he had dug up. With a wide yellow-toothy smile, Caster clasped his hands and rubbed them against each other. Laughing as he looked down at what he had done. He seemed pleased with himself, Carlos didn't know whether or not he should be worried about that or not. "Now Master, I want to tell you how my Noble Phantasm works. Voodoo Ceremony always begins with a catalyst, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it is dead."
Carlos turned to face him with scrunched eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, I think you know." Caster grinned at him as he gestured around the entire cemetery. "Think about it Master, all these people, some of them dead as early as yesterday and others dead as long as centuries ago. Some even longer than that. Their gravestones were left untended and had fallen to nature. The one force that had dominated this world longer than any walking lifeform. Each and everyone one of them has a story, this one, for example,"
"Lȩve nȱn nān ȯndèd la." Caster chanted, his white eyes glowing a yellow light as the ground began to shake underneath his feet. Carlos grunted as he felt something dig up from underneath his feet. He stepped away from it and his eyes widened and he struggled to find words for what he was seeing and hearing. The coffins underneath the ground were being broken and shattered.
Caster himself was being grabbed by several pairs of thin, skeletal hands as he stood in the hole that he had dug. His eyes continued to shine as a staff made of bone with a purple skull with green gems for eyes sat on top of it. Baron Samedi laughed as he stood up and stepped out of the hole he had dug, only kneeling down with a laugh to extend his hand down to the zombified hands reaching up at him.
"Come to me, Undead. Rise, be born again anew, allow your husks to continue living for just a little while longer." Caster said as his eyes dulled back down to its usual white color. "I have use of you, as does my Master."
It was like something out of a zombie film, Carlos thought as he watched in petrified shock as all of the surrounding graves started to shake and the gravestones began to fall down flat on their backsides. Hands exploded out of the ground with impossible strength. Carlos turned to see that it wasn't just the immediate area that they were standing in, but the entire cemetery. This was one of the less populated ones, but he imagined if this was happening in one of the most popular cemeteries. Like the one in Greenwood, or any of the others. Hundreds, if not maybe thousands rose out of the ground. Most of them were unable to properly stand, their muscles and bones long since losing their weight and strength, but more than enough were able to stand on their two feet. Some were missing limbs, others their heads and more were falling apart.
"Hm, it seems that this is the extent of my reach for now," Caster remarked as waved his Skull staff in a wide arc in front of him. "These humans are weak, very weak, they even come back as weak. Hm, perhaps this cemetery was dug too recently." He thought out loud. "No matter, I will work with what I have so far… Retounen,"
His staff let out a burst of green light that had Carlos covering his eyes to prevent himself from going temporarily blind. It was gone just as fast as it came. When Carlos opened his eyes again, all of the bodies that had risen out of the ground were but wisps of green in the air. By some invisible wind, that green energy was drawn forth and sucked into the staff held by Samedi. He absorbed all of it, every drop of its power until there was nothing left. When it was done, Baron's eyes finally formed a pupil and an iris in the center. Both of them being bright yellow in color. With a satisfied sigh, as if he'd just finished eating a large meal, Baron patted himself down and walked up to his still shocked Master.
"And now we have a considerable bolster to our ranks," Caster said as he patted his Master on the shoulder. "Thank you, Master. You have made a wise decision in allowing me to come here. If need be, there is another cemetery that we can visit, yes? Of course, we don't need to be in one in order for my Noble Phantasm to work. As is life, Death is all over the world. You just need to look for it in order to find it."
"W-what the fuck…?"
"You'll get used to it, I'm sure." Caster scoffed. "Or at least I hope so. If this is how you behave when I am garnering strength I'm looking forward to your reaction when we do battle."
"Jesus… ¿En qué coño me he metido? Bah, whatever," Carlos shook his head and turned away from Baron. "Let's get out of here before we get spotted, and don't do that in front of me again. You make me sick, Caster. Seriously, in the literal, disgusting way."
"I admit, my work isn't the most pleasant on the eyes." Caster said with a laugh. "But boy is it enjoyable once you get used to it… You want to conquer the world, right?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, or what could at least be considered to be an eyebrow. Carlos wasn't sure if the Servant had any. "This is just the first of many steps. Master. Some disgusting things need to be done in order for victory to be attained."
"I get that," Carlos barked out. "Just don't expect me to get used to it anytime soon."
"Oh, don't you worry," Baron said too quietly for him to hear as he waved a hand behind his back. Green energy formed in the palm of his hand, a slow grin growing on his blackened face as he sent the wisps of energy scattering across the city. Just enough to cause some chaos, but not enough to deduce it down to him. There were six other Servants around, after all. "That won't be exactly required for results to be acquired."
And there we have it, the fourth chapter down and a few dozen more to go. This is going to be a longer story than I thought due to some changes in plans, but that doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. It just means that the story will just be better.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slahs) Genatools
