4th Day of the Second Moon

Rebecca

"So, these are the walls of Babylon… Beautiful…"

Such was her comment as we passed through the northern gate and into the city. Unlike the first time I'd tried to enter, there was no trouble with the guards stationed at the gate. Nor was there any line up; the last of Johnathan's people from his empire in the north that were coming must have finished their march.

"Absolutely beautiful" she muttered as she looked around the gate area.

Off on my left, I noticed Johnathan shutter atop his horse.

"Something the matter" I questioned, looking to him as we came to a stop to let some builders and their carts pass.

"Hm? Oh, ah, no. It's nothing, really" Johnathan sighed. "Just… suddenly thought of something unsettling."

"Certainly doesn't seem like nothing…"

"It's from a long time ago. Really, I don't know what came over me to even remember it in the first place."

"If you say so…"

"I'll give this master from Atlas this: the city is far more beautiful than I could have ever envisioned" our newest ally, Sophia, spoke up, seemingly no longer caught up in her own trance.

"Well, you'd probably be better off giving credit to his servant" Johnathan laughed as we resumed our journey through the city. "It's Assassin who really runs the show when it comes to anything concerning the empire. I'm just hoping he's finally found his way out of the rut he was in before we'd left."

"He better be" I grumbled. "If I left Caster behind for nothing-"

"I'm still surprised you left your servant with another master" Sophia cut in. "I thought for sure it was some kind of trick when the two of you showed up with only a single servant."

"No trick" Johnathan shook his head. "He just seemed really keen to have Caster assist him with… well, whatever it was he'd thought up."

"…I suppose even for magi, having a Caster class servant to work with would be a massive benefit" Sophia eventually nodded her head. "Or perhaps it's especially for magi. Either way, with me joining this, we have, what, a Saber, a Lancer, a Caster, and an Assassin?"

"Yep. Were this a conventional Holy Grail War, we'd actually be in a really good spot, majority alliance and all that."

"But there's only ever one winner in a grail war."

"Indeed…"

"And you're all still keeping the individual pieces of the alliance a secret? Servant wise, that is?"

"…If by that you mean our servant's true names, then yeah, obviously" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that.

"Well, in part it's as you said: there's only ever one winner" Johnathan elaborated. "The other part being that this alliance isn't exactly built on the strongest of foundations, so to speak."

That was an understatement. Clock Tower and Atlas working together was maybe one thing, but adding in first the Spiral Manor and now someone from the American Institute? Yeah, no one was really trusting anyone here. Not to the extent that they're willing to reveal their servant's true name to each other, even if it could be a tactical advantage to do so.

"So, this whole operation really is to just take out one person? Someone who you don't even know where they're at yet?"

"Stands to reason that the one who created this war would be the most likely to win it, and thus needs to be eliminated as soon as possible" Johnathan countered. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"I mean, I don't disagree… but shouldn't you at least figure out where this Satanael person is first? For all you know, you're running around, putting together some hasty alliance just to deal with someone who's already been dealt with."

"I refuse to take chances. Not on this."

"Well… here's to hoping it all works out for you then. Or us, really, now that I'm in with you all."

"And you were the one thinking it was a trap" Johnathan laughed. "I thought for sure something was up when you agreed immediately. It was far easier than I'd been expecting, what after that show you put on with that army of yours."

"Yes, well, I'm just hoping Saber manages to get it here within the next few days" Sophia muttered. "We weren't exactly organized coming out of Halicarnassus, and Saber tends to bounce from one idea to the next on a whim at times…"

"Your servant been causing you trouble then?"

"Hmm… It's been manageable, and it's not like Saber doesn't come through when I need her to. But the kind of trouble she brings with her… Well, you'll see for yourself what it's like when she gets here. Speaking of though, are you sure there's enough space and supplies in the city? I'm not sure how long the army could camp outside the city on its own supplies; we weren't expecting a big journey or anything."

"I'm sure it'll be fine! If we really need to, we can set up supply convoys to both your and my empire. Between two empires, I'm sure I we can manage to supply your army. As for space, well, we'll just have Assassin expand the barracks."

"If you can even get her to listen" I muttered.

"Yes, well, assuming that. Ideally, our mutual friend will have found the means to get his servant to be of… more direct assistance."

The rest of the journey to the palace was done in silence. Once we left behind the horses at the palace stables I tried reaching out to Caster through our mental connection, but I didn't receive any response. Granted, I had no idea how long of a range that thing had, but whatever it was, apparently we weren't within it, which was annoying; I wanted to learn what Caster had been up to the past few days.

Still, I didn't rush ahead of the group. Mainly because I didn't really know my way around the palace at all yet, and thus was reliant on Johnathan for direction. The other, minor reason was that I found it amusing how Sophia, a grown woman from what I could tell, was stopping every time we entered a new room or hallway to admire its beauty.

Every time she passed comment on how beautiful she found something, Johnathan seemed to twitch a little. Nowhere near as noticeable as the time back by the city gate, but noticeable enough if you were consciously looking for it. I had no idea why the word beautiful seemed to agitate him so much, but Clock Tower magi could be weird enough as it was. Magi tied to other groups or backgrounds? I wasn't even going to bother trying to understand their own versions of crazy.

"What's up with you passing judgement on everything's beauty anyways" I couldn't help but eventually question as I spotted Johnathan's hand twitch again.

"Who, me" Sophia asked, sounding slightly confused. "Well, nothing in particular I suppose? Just that, I'll admit, I've become rather mesmerized by this world. The things I've managed to see here, limited that has been, have very little equal back on Earth. Like, just look at this place. You can't honestly tell me you've seen anything equaling this palace back home."

"…I suppose not" I admitted after giving it a moment of though. "But even so, I don't just walk around muttering beautiful to myself."

"Oh, sorry. I'll make a conscious effort to keep it internal if it's bothering you" she smiled apologetically. "I get excited easily, and it's hard to keep it in at times."

"…You make it sound like there's no beauty at all on Earth" I elected to refrain from commenting on that last bit.

"Ah, well, I certainly don't mean to. The world is undeniably beautiful, both Earth and this one. It's just that-"

I stopped focusing on what Sophia was saying as I walked right into Johnathan, who had given no prior indication of stopping.

"Ok, what gives" I grumbled as I took a step back from him. "You've-"

"Nothing, nothing" Johnathan stammered. "Or, well, maybe it's something. I suppose we're about to find out."

I leaned passed Johnathan and poked my head around the corner.

Coming down the hallway was a woman I'd never seen before. She must have been someone important though, considering that even from this distance, I could tell the black dress she wore was luxurious, and likely worth more than every dress I owned back home combined. Really, everything about her attire was black. Sure, hints of red and gold existed, but it was sparce, and at least half of the gold seemed to exist in the form of spikes, be it on her palms, her heels, or even at the ends of her hair in a couple places.

Speaking of her hair, it was ridiculously long! To say nothing on the practicality of having hair so long that it brushed along the floor, how was it even desirable?! Surely, it'd just get dirty and tangled up with god knows what! Yet, seemingly despite all odds, the woman's hair appeared immaculate! Nor did she seem to have any trouble walking, which really should have been an issue for anybody with hair that long, especially in heels!

Rather than tripping over herself though, she had all the grace and poise of a noblewoman. Really, all you would have to do is tone her hair and choice of attire down a notch or two, and I could have mistaken her for a magus from a prestigious bloodline at the Clock Tower. There was no denying it, even with the annoyed scowl on her face: she was beautiful.

And that was when it hit me.

That's… Assassin?!

"The rabble has returned then. Wonderful" Assassin rolled her eyes as she approached. "Well? If you have something to say, then speak. Otherwise-"

Assassin stopped mid thought, and the scowl on her deepened to the point I'd actually consider it more a look of disgust as her attention turned away from Johnathan and onto Sophia, who'd stepped out from around the corner to get a look at what Johnathan and I were focused on.

"This one I've heard about" Assassin continued, turning her scowl back onto Johnathan as she first pointed to me, then at Sophia, "but she is…?"

"Yes, right. Assassin, this is-" Johnathan began to explain.

"I am Sophia Andrade" Sophia interjected, putting emphasis on the I and sounding slightly agitated herself, "and I am the newest master of this alliance here."

"Uh-huh, and since when did I ever approve of this" Assassin snapped at Johnathan. "To say nothing about the first time you went and expanded this alliance without my consent, you two go off and do it again! Do you even understand the risks of your actions, or are you just stupid?!"

I felt a surge of magical energy as sections of the floor behind Assassin began to bubble in purple puddles. A second later, and I found myself on one side of a servant showdown, with Assassin glaring at all of us and the familiar silver armor of Lancer within arm's length of me. Honestly, I'd started to forget that he was even with us, considering how little I'd seen of him since we began the return journey.

"Let's not do anything reckless, Assassin" Lancer sounded perfectly calm, despite the situation.

"Lancer. How nice of you to finally show yourself. I'd have thought a knight to know better than to try and sneak around in the shadows."

"I've never once claimed to be a knight, despite the class. Nor do I claim any talent in assassination. Now, how about we attempt to resolve this without destroying your palace here? We're on the same side, after all."

"Hmph. Consider yourselves fortunate I'm still willing to consider that the case" Assassin huffed dismissively, thought the bubbling puddles did disappear.

Pushing past Lancer and the rest of us, Assassin's heels clacking against the floor were the only sounds to be heard. That was until she suddenly came to a stop some feet behind us.

"Well" she questioned, not even bothering to turn around and face us. "Are you all just going to keep standing there? This way."

"Apologies, Assassin" Johnathan was the first to respond, sounding completely unphased, despite the situation which had just transpired. "We really need to-"

"I know who you're looking for, and you're not going to find him in the palace. Honestly, why do you think I'm even heading in this direction?!"

The clacking of heels returned as soon as Assassin finished speaking. Clearly, she wasn't going to wait around for us. I spotted Johnathan raise an eyebrow at Lancer before rushing off to catch up with her, while Lancer simply shifted back into spirit form. Stunned, I glanced over to Sophia, who still looked agitated.

"W-Well…" I hesitated as I took a couple awkward steps back the way we'd come. "That was… something."

"That's certainly one way to put it" Sophia muttered as the two of us followed Johnathan and Assassin from a… comfortable distance.

"What do you make of Assassin" I eventually asked once we'd stepped back outside the palace, trying to break the awkward silence that had built up since.

"…She's a right bitch" Sophia muttered after a moment, taking care to keep her voice low, despite the distance between the two of us and Johnathan and Assassin.

"No kidding" I couldn't hold back the wry smile. "Lucky Lancer was with us. Definitely keeping Caster close by from now on."

"Same for me with Saber… Gods, I'm sorry, I just- I know she's likely some form of royalty or whatnot, but still, the never of her to just- argh."

"Damn, you really don't like her" I laughed a little. "Not used to nobility, are you?"

"Oh, hell no. Does the Mages Association really still have people who behave like that?"

"More than you'd probably think, yeah."

"What outdated garbage…" Sophia shuddered.

"Well, Assassin does have something over all the magi nobles" I opted to tactfully ignore that comment. "I can't think of even a single magus that comes close to her beauty. I swear, it's just not fair."

"Really" Sophia raised an eyebrow. "You think Assassin is beautiful?"

"I mean… yeah? What, are you trying to tell me you don't?"

"Of course I don't!"

…Sounded like jealousy more than anything to me, having now gotten a good look at both Sophia and Assassin, but again, I tactfully decided to refrain from commenting. However, that put us back to the awkward silence, since I really didn't know where to go from there and Sophia was still too worked up to either want or be able to keep the conversation going.

The walk ended up being far longer than I'd expected. Assassin and Johnathan led the way the entire time, taking us through the busy streets and out beyond the gates into the desert. Eventually, though, we came to a stop at what was very clearly a magus' workshop. What one was doing way out here in the desert, I had no idea, but it only took a moment upon our arrival to run into Caster.

"Ah, master, you've returned" Caster sounded worn out, but cheerful as he approached. "And I see Assassin is with you! Wonderful!"

"Caster" Assassin narrowed her eyes, though she didn't sound anywhere near as annoyed as when we'd first ran into her. "I received your message. Now tell me why I am here."

"Please, leave that to me."

From the makeshift hut, the master from Atlas emerged, looking nowhere near as worn out as caster, which, I'll admit, annoyed me a fair bit. The only one who should be running Caster ragged like that was me, seeing as I was his master. At the very least, the Atlas master should have been as worn out as Caster was.

"Assassin" the man bowed to his servant, before turning to face Sophia. "And I presume you must be our friend out East. I am pleased to see you have decided to join us."

"An action which I did not approve of" Assassin glared at her master. "Now tell me why I am out here. This better not be a waste of my time."

"I assure you, Assassin, it is anything but. Now please, if you all would follow me this way."

Around the other side of the building was a set of magical circles. Sitting in the center of each one was a large pile of sand. Confused, I raised an eyebrow at Caster.

"What the heck is this" I questioned through our link.

"Wait for the demonstration, master. I assure you, this was more complex to create than it looks."

"Piles of sand" Assassin commented dryly. "As if I wasn't surrounded by it already."

"Not just any sand, Assassin" her master countered. "Sand specifically from what would be the city of Baghdad, in the modern day. Or at least, a place close enough to it. Now, Caster, if you would be so kind."

"Yes, of course" Caster smiled as he walked over to the first circle. "Wouldn't want all our effort to go to waste."

"No, we wouldn't" the master from Atlas agreed as he walked around to the other side of the circle, hiding him from view behind the pile of sand. "Whenever you are ready."

"Then on the count of three. One… two… three…"

Together, Caster and the master from Atlas spoke some words in a language I couldn't understand. The circle between them lit up in a green glow. After a couple of seconds, the pile of sand began to glow as well, becoming this bright, pure white blob in the middle of the circle, before it began to shrink and contort into all kinds of weird forms.

After about twenty or so seconds had passed, the glowing mass of sand had completely disappeared, yet neither Caster nor the master from Atlas let up in their concentration on the spell. A few more seconds, and a new white mass began to grow from the center of the circle, contorting and expanding until it reached a high not quite as tall as the pile of sand had been, but was now in the shape of a cube. A few more seconds of glowing, and all the glowing stopped. In the center of the circle was now a solid brown cube.

All in all, the spell had only taken about a minute to complete.

"I'm sorry, but is that… soil" I asked, confused as to what I was looking at.

"Indeed it is, master" Caster smiled. "A block of soil, transmuted from a pile of sand, with nothing lost in the process, I might add. A perfect transmutation, as it were, though I admit it doesn't quite feel the same, not seeing gold at the end of the process."

"Uh-huh" Assassin both looked and sounded unimpressed. "So, you exchanged one meaningless thing for another. The gold would have been preferable to whatever this is supposed to be."

"If I may, Assassin, there is still more to show you" Assassin's master walked over to the next circle. "Again, Caster. Whenever you're ready."

One by one, Caster and Assassin's master performed their spell on the remaining five circles. Come the end of it all, there sat one block of soil, one slab of stone, a pile of what the two of them called assorted minerals, a pile of wood planks, a collection of plants, and a giant jug of water. Honestly, I didn't quite get what was the point of all of this, and judging from the expressions on both Sophia's and Johnathan's faces, neither did they.

But Assassin… Assassin simply remained quiet come the end of the final spell. No glare or annoyed look across her face either. She simply looked at all six circles, slowly walking past each one in silent contemplation.

"I trust this will suffice as proof enough for you" Assassin's master eventually spoke up, sounding confident as he broke the silence.

"…For what you'd ask of me, much remains to be seen" Assassin eventually spoke, sounding dismissive. "But I will admit, you've piqued my interest with this, ever so slight."

"Then, once I provide the required quantity-"

"If you provided the required quantity" Assassin swiftly corrected, finally looking up from the plants and toward her master. "Then I will pass judgement."

Assassin's master simply bowed his head in silence.

"If that is all, I will be returning. Next time, come to me yourself, rather than sending a message."

On that final note, Assassin disappeared, shifting into spirit form.

"…About what I expected" Assassin's master broke the silence after a moment, turning to Caster. "But it proves the concept. Thank you for your assistance, Caster. Working with you has proven… insightful."

Before Caster could respond, he turned to face me.

"And… thank you…" the man did a slight bow to me, though it sounded as though it was a struggle for him to speak those words. "This would not have been possible without your servant assisting me. So… thank you."

"Right…" I sighed.

"Though, if I may continue to have his assistance for the time being…"

"How much longer are you thinking" I questioned.

"That… well, it will depend…" he admitted, turning his attention to Sophia. "Apologies, I know not your name, but I believe it is your army I can see just inside my northern border."

"Sophia" Sophia introduced herself, "and I would assume so, unless you were expecting another."

"Then it is rather fortunate indeed that you are an ally. If I may borrow your army as well, seeing as they are there already?"

"What for?"

"Why, the procurement of more sand from the region, as only sand from the specific region will suffice for my needs. I assure you all, though, that the efforts shall be worth it."

"I mean… a bit of an odd request, but I suppose I don't mind, so long as I'm present. Not like I was looking to expand any more than I've done so already. Probably best we head back to Babylon and use the warp gate right away though before Saber orders the army too much further away from where you need."

"Ah, so you're the master of a Saber servant. That is most fortunate indeed."

"Man, are you sure the heat hasn't gotten to you" Johnathan burst out laughing. "You've never talked like this as long as I've known you."

"Yes, well… the past few days have been a rather… humbling experience" the man sighed, sounding uncomfortable. "Do not expect this to last."

"So, you admit there's merit to European alchemy then" Johnathan asked with a cheeky grin.

"…In some very specific cases, such as the one I found myself in, yes…"


A/N

Took me a bit longer than I'd expected (go figure), but here we are: first post of 2023!

Hope I have everything sounding... right, let's put it. I think this is reasonable, but if you all disagree, well, that's what the reviews are for.

As always, hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you in the next post o7