The winds strengthened as Amarenzu and Ruler neared the floating fortress. Raising from the depths of the now ruined manor, the Greater Holy Grail gleamed a golden light. While the Grail was in front of her, Amarenzu wasn't sure if the cause of the singularity was solely the Grail or something else.
A fickle thing when it came to alternate universes. Observing the events would be her best bet in discovering the source of this singularity. Were these singularities just as difficult for the Master of Chaldea? If so, then Amarenzu felt a deeper respect for that young magus. Either way, the Master of Chaldea will mysteriously gain a rarer Servant the next summon.
As the two drew even closer to the Hanging Gardens, a thought donned on Amarenzu. How did Ruler expect them to reach the floating fortress? Sure, the demi-god could fly them up there, but Ruler hadn't asked her to yet. Amarenzu sighed, reaching out to grab Ruler's wrist, pulling the blonde closer, and leapt up into the air. Ruler looked startled at the sudden change of altitude before she gripped her flag in two clenched hands.
Skeletal movement caught her eye as she propelled the both of them towards the Gardens. Barely containing an eyebrow twitch, Amarenzu scanned for an area to drop Ruler off. Upon spotting a small balcony, the demi-god paused, hovering in place as skeletal monstrosities approached.
"Apologies in advance," Amarenzu said, gaining a confused look from the blonde. Reinforcing her limbs, Amarenzu tightened her grip on Ruler's wrist before spinning once and throwing Ruler towards the balcony. As Ruler sailed through the air, Amarenzu conjured a spear with fire dancing along the blade.
The winged creatures roared as they charged towards her. Amarenzu twirled the fire infused spear around her fingers before readying a charge. Fire sparked a trail as her form blinked forwards; a funnel of flame incinerating the winged skeletons. With a flick of her wrist, the spear vanished, wisps of fire emitted from the movement before disappearing completely. Noticing more spawn from within the walls of the Hanging Gardens, Amarenzu retreated to the nearest entrance she could spot. It wasn't the balcony that she had thrown Ruler to, but at least she was inside the Gardens now.
Ducking behind a pillar, Amarenzu watched as the new wave of winged skeletons patrolled the skies before they returned to the walls of the Hanging Gardens. With a turn that caused her coat to swish, Amarenzu entered the flying fortress.
Upon arriving at an open hallway, Amarenzu paused and looked down both ways. It was eerily quiet; darkness encroached both left and right. The small green lanterns provided meager lighting. If she recalled correctly, the Hanging Gardens had a circular shape, so it really wouldn't matter which direction she picked. However, getting to the center was her main goal and busting down walls would only give away her position or potentially activate any self defense mechanisms. Peering down both ways again, the white-haired demi-god turned to the left and marched onwards.
Several turns and green hallways later, Amarenzu entered a room that resembled a small church. From what she could tell, she had entered from the left side of the room on the second floor. Once again, it was still quiet. The candles lining the room illuminated it more than the dim hallways that lead here, though not by much. If no one was here, then it was time to move on. Spotting another door across the way, Amarenzu quickly traversed the stairs that led down then up again. While she did see the main door to the room, Amarenzu thought it best to stick to the side paths.
On her way towards the door, she heard the soft click of heels and light taps of shoes. Now aware of the people nearby, Amarenzu concealed her presence as much as possible without going into spirit form. While spirit form did turn her invisible to the mortal eye, Servants could still see her, and there would be a brief sound emitted upon entering and exiting that form. If she could slip through the door, then surely she would be fine visually. Arriving at the wooden door, Amarenzu reached out a hand to twist the brass knob.
Only it turned before her hand could actually touch it. Pushing herself against the wall to the right of the door, Amarenzu watched as the door swung open, sinking closer to the ground. Suddenly, she started to regret the choice of white clothing.
"Hmm, that's odd," rang a feminine voice. More footsteps followed by a rustling of clothing.
"Oh?" A man's voice, though awfully young.
"Surely you felt the presence of another Servant as well, Master?" Amarenzu grimaced, dreading the thought of the pair discovering her sitting against the wall.
"I did, albeit faintly." The pair had paused right at the door; Amarenzu could see a piece of red cloth peek around the corner every so often. Thankfully, they didn't move the door any further as it would eventually end up squishing her and reveal her hiding spot. "While troublesome, there are more pressing matter to attend to."
"Right…" The two continued on their path; the female - and most likely the Servant - halfheartedly closing the door. Getting a backside view of the pair, Amarenzu's eye widened at the sight of the priest she had encountered in the forest. That would not have been a pretty fight if they had found her there.
Catching the door before it closed all the way, Amarenzu slipped through the door just as the two arrived at the set of stairs. Before she closed the door herself, she heard the faint twinkle of the Servant going into spirit form. Sighing as she quietly shut the door, Amarenzu trekked onwards and away from the pair.
}-o-{
Jeanne d'Arc, the Ruler for this Holy Grail war, landed with unexpected ease on the balcony that her white haired companion had thrown her to. Well, the Holy Maiden would like to think that the girl was her companion; after all, the two had fought a few battles together already. It was a nice change from one group trying to kill her and another that attempted to get her aid. Given that her (temporary?) companion belonged to no side, there were no rules being broken in regards to joining up with her.
When Jeanne had first met Amarenzu, she couldn't quite peg as to where the girl stood. Even now, she couldn't fathom as to the reason for her summon. From what she could tell though, much like Sieg, Amarenzu held her own Command Spells and a lot of them at that - though not as many as the Ruler class received. Whenever she got the chance, Jeanne made a mental note to inquire about Amarenzu's purpose in this War. Perhaps it would give insight as to why she was here as well. However, all of this would have to be after she talked with a Master of the Red Faction.
So far, there had already been several complications in regards to Servants that had been summoned. The Servant known as Spartacus was beginning to pose as a threat, but luckily Amarenzu had been able to defeat him before he could unleash his Noble Phantasm. Then, there was Assassin of Black, Jack the Ripper, who was disregarding the Greater Holy Grail entirely. Lastly, the sudden presence of a vampire in place of the Servant Vlad III. However, this maze of hallways proved difficult in finding the vampire.
As Jeanne traversed the green hallways, she could sense the presence of each Servant surrounding the vampire as well as another in the opposite direction. Had Amarenzu finally made it into the Gardens? If so, then her presence was very potent for a Servant, not even most Casters had one like hers.
Suddenly, the distant presence dimmed drastically before fading completely. The death of a Servant can usually be felt by the others, and Jeanne doubted that Amarenzu could be defeated with such ease which left the possibility that she went into hiding. Jeanne could only fan the idea that she was at a disadvantage against whomever was nearby as the Holy Maiden knew full well that she could take care of herself - with the one-time exception of the priest the girl had fought in the forest.
As much as she tried to not dwell on the enigma that was Amarenzu, Jeanne really only knew just that, her name. Generally, when a Servant gives his or her name, the parameters that he or she has are revealed, but no such information became known to her. The white-haired girl had even evaded Jeanne's skill to discover such information by a simple glance. While her class specific skill did have its rare occasion to not work, receiving her name should have revealed the information. There were so many questions that needed answers. And Ruler wasn't sure if she would ever receive them at this point.
-o-
Mordred wasn't too happy about retreating from the squabble she had with that one white-haired Servant. In all honesty, she couldn't decide if she had enjoyed the small time that they spent fighting. While the - judging by pitch of voice - girl had been using magic, her skills with the sword weren't half bad. Most mages that the knight had met proved to be pretentious assholes or couldn't even hope to survive against the might of her sword.
But in a way, the sword-wielding mage pissed her off. The mage had this air around her, not unlike the knight's father. Mordred gripped her sword tighter at the thought; no one should be able to hope to parallel the King of Britain. She had long since taken off her armor, now sporting the clothes that her Master, Kairi, had given her. There weren't any Servants around, they had all gone to the fortress up in the sky. Well, all except for one.
Rider of Black was still with that fake Servant, the homunculi. Rider's Master had appeared, her crazed voice grating on the knight's nerves. Not only that, the poor excuse of a mage was spouting some nonsense on causing her Servant pain and despair. Just as the lunatic used her last Command Spell to have her Servant kill the homunculi, Mordred took one quick swing and removed the burden of her head from her shoulders. Well, at least that's one less Servant to think about.
As the knight turned to leave, she noticed the shocked stares she received. Brushing them off, she continued to where her Master was waiting by the beaten up - what did he call it again? - vehicle. Now heading towards the fortress in the sky, Mordred almost anticipated meeting the white-haired servant - almost. The priest leading the Red Faction was a different story entirely. Her gut practically screamed at her not to trust him, and a gut feeling wasn't something she was about to ignore. The priest and his Servant seemed to be scheming, and Mordred did not want any part of it.
Speaking of sides… Her mind wandered back to the white-haired Servant; she wondered which faction she was on. As far as her Master had told her, all Servants were accounted for, seven for both Factions and one Ruler. The girl had even said that she was on neither side, and while that could have been complete rubbish, the Servant didn't seem to have been lying.
Mordred huffed a breath of frustration, leaning her head against the slightly cracked window. The humming of the engine was the only sound being emitted. The stationary fortress was still creating a funnel underneath it as the two drawled near. Strong winds started to push against the vehicle, eventually picking it up. Up and up they went, heading straight into the fortress.
-o-
Shiro Amakusa was nearing his victory, slowly, but surely. In the end, the pace taken to reach his goal wouldn't matter; he would obtain the salvation for humanity. He had waited sixty years for the chance of obtaining the Greater Grail, and he was willing to wait a few more days if it meant ensuring victory.
All that he needed to do now was take care of the second Ruler of this War and possibly the other Servant that was summoned with no apparent human Master. The homunculus, while surprisingly threatening to his plans, would not last much longer. As for the Black Faction, their Masters were so uncoordinated that taking the Grail proved much easier than expected. This problem wouldn't trouble him at all as he now held command over all the Servants of Red excluding Saber. Now the matter that was primarily troublesome was getting the Servants to cooperate with him; he doubted that all of them would accept the sudden transfer so readily.
He closed the door that the previous Masters of Red were secured behind. They would be rendered unconscious for the remainder of the War thanks to the poison that his Servant, Semiramis, had concocted. Some of the poison leaked out from the small opening at the bottom of the door, pinkish swirls curling around his boots.
With a soft twinkle and mist of blue, Semiramis appeared next to him. No words were needed to be exchanged as the two headed back towards the church-styled room. Shiro knew full well of the Servants currently in battle just a few hallways away, and of the more posing threat. It seemed Darnic was more than willing to throw away whatever sliver of humanity he had left in attempts to take back the Greater Grail. However, turning one's self into that of a monster, a vampire of all things, in order to retrieve the item of obsession was hardly excusable. His Ruler code blared at the blatant ignorance of the Holy Grail War "rules," but he would deal with that in due time.
Sighing, Shiro forced himself to relax just slightly. This would be a rare and brief chance to do so, and the War would only increase in difficulty from here on out. He was glad he had Semiramis by his side, literally and figuratively. As fate would have it, the first poisoner was on board with his plan to bring salvation to humanity. And, her Noble Phantasm was quite useful - it still is. Obtaining the Grail would have proved much harder without it.
The sight of the wooden door connecting the church-styled room ended his train of thought. As did the flicker of a Servant's presence, one he was familiar with. Well, in the one time he had met the owner, he noted the unique presence she let off. Semiramis had already opened the door by the time the presence had vanished.
"Hmm, that's odd," she noted as she scanned the room. Shiro paused at the edge of the opened door; his red holy shroud peeking around the wooden door as he turned to Semiramis who had stopped as well.
"Oh?" He knew exactly what she was talking about, but for the sake of keeping the appearance of an ordinary mage Master, he shouldn't really have the knowledge of a Servant in hiding.
Semiramis only gave him a dry look, "Surely you felt the presence of another Servant, Master?"
"I did, albeit faintly," he supplied, unconsciously putting up a small smile. He turned his head slightly to the right. In the silence of the room, he could feel the hidden Servant's presence waver slightly before retreating into nothing again. "While troublesome, there are more pressing matter to attend to." With that, Shiro walked away from the other two.
He heard Semiramis' drawled, "right…" before closing the door behind her as well as her approaching footsteps. As they neared the stairs, the first Ruler paused once more, turning to look at Assassin of Red.
"That poison you placed in that room with the previous Masters of Red, can it work on Servants as well?"
A/N: First and foremost, thank you for all the favorites/follows. And a thank you as well to Devil man for the review.
Honestly, writing long chapters is getting a bit tough due to timing issues, so some scenes may be drawn out more or there will be additional scenes, either way AU shenanigans will ensue.
Also, I am still contemplating on how I want this to end. I do have a general idea, but the path to get there is a bit sketchy in terms of writing it. The Holy Grail War itself is pretty short, which is making little room for plot. Enter the different perspectives! Lame excuses, I know, but I am working on it, promise.
Anyways, I might squeeze in another chapter before I take off on vacation, if not, then it might take a lot longer for the next chapter. Apologizes in advance.