Since Sasaku was cheerfully sampling the feast laid out for them (due to possessing a Skill which would help her if anything was poisoned) Gudako tapped the other Ruler, Jeanne, on the shoulder, and the two quickly left following the earlier mysterious figure Chloe had seen. They weren't particularly stealthy about it, since Elizabeth was busy with her Archer fan, and Cat probably noticed but, if so, had decided to let things play out.
Taking the lead as usual when there was any risk, Jeanne quickly made her way down the service corridor while also checking her corners. Just in case.
"Alright, so Ruler... I initially thought you had come along with us, but you're definitely from Chaldea." Someone spoke up from out of sight. Friendly tone, but then again there were many reasons for a Servant to try and avoid being tagged by (True Name Discernment).
"Does this mean you're not interested in honest discussion?" Gudako ventured, looking behind them just in case someone might have thought to approach from that angle via one of the side entrances.
"Huh." A green-cloaked figure stepped out in front of them. Even though Jeanne's Skill failed to get a read on the other Servant, the events of Chaldea's last Singularity informed her well enough to immediately be on guard. "Robin Hood, I presume?"
"One of many," he quipped, though keeping his (No Face May King) on. "Today though, I'm playing the role of Elizabeth's Producer, so I must thank for bringing your friend over. No idea how old Nameless knew about your variant, but if he had been wrong..."
"I take it you're familiar with the original Emperor then?" Jeanne asked, trying to get some free information.
"All too well. I'd like to have this variant of Tamamo too, though I can tell that she didn't come with you."
"So the three of you were dropped into this Event together?" Gudako probed. "I assume that no Master means you couldn't access the Friend List that Cat clued us into."
"Ah, you see... Elizabeth is kind of the cause for this. Kept simple, she found a shard of a Holy Grail and all this followed. The two of us were sent to try damage control." Robin Hood didn't seem particularly surprised by the turn of events. "Or less generously, a certain last boss-type kouhai threw us after Elizabeth for her amusement and then made up an excuse. I'm sure you've had similar experiences."
"If you're a Producer, does that mean the whole idol concert gig is on the level? Letting her run around with a Grail piece isn't exactly a great gameplan."
"Mhm. I'm really glad Chaldea sent a Ruler, though I guess you always would? We'd only get back home if the situation is resolved, so I think everyone can agree you'd be best taking custody of that. Keep it out of trouble and all."
"Ah, but what's the catch?" Gudako questioned.
"Well, she won't consider this 'done' until after the concert."
"So our objective is -to survive-?" Jeanne asked skeptically. "I recall her extremely destructive Noble Phantasm is, on some level, basically her singing."
"I wouldn't worry about that," a new voice corrected her. "If she isn't intending to kill, she won't. On the other hand, people collapsing is considered a plus, and a Berserker might be more considerate about your resulting psychological trauma."
Gudako quickly spotted the new Servant, this one not trying at all to hide his face or distinctively jet black muscled cuirass. "That's reassuring, I think."
"I won't deny that a decent bit rides on the Servant you brought in, but you also have your own types of protection?" He eyed the Master with some amusement. "I have no idea what's going on down there nowadays, but not only do Mystic Codes look like school uniforms, Servants end up with them as their default outfit? Aesthetic tastes have taken an odd turn."
"It would be nice if you'd not antagonize the people we're relying on," Robin Hood grumbled at his comrade. "And it could get worse, imagine if the day's Servant fashion was based on overwrought idol costumes."
"That would be a very odd form of hell," the nameless one replied carelessly. "Anyway, I think you Chaldeans have pretty much figured out the big story with Bathory 'Halloween' Elizabeth's debut affair?"
"We've been in a couple of Events before," Jeanne commented while leaving out details. "They tend to not be explicitly destructive, or even a threat provided we don't mess it up ourselves."
"I guess the Producer should do the sell, huh?" Robin Hood shrugged as though it were a common occurrence in Grail Wars. "She's basically Elizabeth just before fully entering into noble society. Rather than that, though, as a Servant she now wants to turn around and become a performing idol. Considering what happened historically, I think you'd agree that as much of a pain as she might be, it's better than the default."
"Ah, yes," Gudako recalled some of the Heroic Spirits she knew about. "We have a similar case with Artoria Pendragon, and I've heard something like that with a younger Gilgamesh."
"I know offhand about Marie Antoinette, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, but are the other half of your Servants children? Probably not da Vinci since she made her own firearm." Black Armor might have been surprised by the last, but he hid it well if so. The point was well made though, since Servants were generally in their prime, which outside of special cases like da Vinci would not be before they had reached maturity.
"One is actually twelve or so, but she seems to have picked up something from the original Heroic Spirit; no idea how that works. As for the last one, yeah she's older than everyone except maybe Scathach."
"The Queen of the Land of Shadows? Quite a powerhouse you have there." Was he trying to get a read on Chaldea's strength? It seemed unlikely he was from one, since he had identified them as such but did not even comment further on the matter.
"Indeed, her understanding of runes would single-handedly turn it into a ridiculously overpowered magecraft in the current Age," Gudako agreed.
Chaldea had employed runes heavily not only in its vaults but most of the headquarters' construction; turning what could ordinarily be described as a doomsday bunker complex into the sort of base that could survive even the external destruction of human history. But all that was accomplished with mostly runes only considered basic among magi, with minimal, and experimental at that, use of ones being developed by a few mostly-ignored individuals they had picked up. They owed the El Melloi family's current Lord for identifying a couple of those.
"Her runes, huh? Interesting..." He didn't try to hide surprise, but she was distracted by noticing that despite the armor, his arms and shoulder were simply left exposed. Perhaps left off something that would've been a clue. Certainly, she felt like there was something familiar about him, but it seemed even Jeanne's Skill couldn't get a good fix on this mysterious individual either.
"What's actually interesting is that you seem to be implying we have this mostly settled," Jeanne sounded doubtful of such a positive outcome, but Robin Hood just nodded as though it was only natural.
"We did a lot of the setup by the time you got here, so I appreciate your appreciation of our thoroughness," he explained.
"All that aside, it would be good for her to have a genuinely successful concert so that she will, maybe, stop believing that trashing everything and everyone counts as success. Servants can be slow to change, but with a Grail, who knows?" the armored one continued. "She's developed quite a bit over our time together, also thanks to our Master, so establishing a new viable variant is also a win-win, I'd say."
"The first max NP, too." Tamamo Cat appeared, apparently on the hunt for Chaldea's other Master. "You should say something before the concert starts."
"Keeping everything to the plan is a great idea," Sasaku appeared just after Cat. Perhaps she was just following along, or perhaps we was worried that their hosts were up to something. "Though if you're done, Cat, I wanted to ask you a few things?"
"Rather bold to ask a Tamamo for advice," Robin Hood's fellow did not seem very accepting of the helpful Cat.
"What the woof?" Cat made a decent impression of an annoyed cat, except of course with the wrong sound effect. The ears and fur were on spot, though.
"Ah don't worry about him," Sasaku eyed him sideways, though if even Jeanne couldn't identify the mysterious Servant, she definitely wouldn't be able to. "Besides, Cat's best help is extremely convoluted anyway. Uh, that's totally fine though, just answer however you feel like in the moment..."
"You should give a cat food first, but I fed you instead," Cat commented, but seemed willing to accept the request nonetheless.
"I hope your debut goes well," Gudako said with a heartfelt sincerity, though her reasons for that hope were complex, of course. "We'll have some time to chat after the concert, I'm sure."
"My producer has left some time for us," Elizabeth said casually before suddenly remembering something and adding, "O-of course I have something for you as well, after that is !"
"Mhm, well get out there and work the stage," Gudao smiled as Mata Hari showed up to bring Elizabeth backstage for the performance. "Hmm, you brought Jeanne back but where did Sasaku go?"
"She wanted to talk to Cat," his counterpart informed him. "Not the worst idea, all things considered."
Walking up unannounced, Vlad plucked a couple snacks from the table and ate one with a satisfied look. "While I understand your potential hesitation, you should get to your places early so there won't be some awkward hangup. Also, the intro section will be... not to be missed one might say."
"Yeah, I can totally see that happening," Chloe and Marie had been watching the Lancer from the moment he entered the hall. Anne and Mary were as well, but they were also 'plundering' some of the sweets which were rather new experiences to them. da Vinci was looking out of one of the windows at the outdoor area where the concert was scheduled to take place. It was a cool night, perfectly suited for a large-scale performance, but...
"Is there really going to be a crowd?" she asked no one in particular. Or perhaps everyone. "Events are usually light on non-Servant populations, since they're really odd phenomena."
"There's the people of her lands, if that's what you mean," Vlad answered her directly. "You are right though: they will conveniently show up for this particular occasion and quickly run away afterwards."
"Please don't tell me she routinely drags her subjects out just to hold idol performances for them," Gudako wondered.
"Isn't this supposed to be her, actual debut?" Marie pointed out. "How that works when she's done concerts already is the real wonder in all this."
"Simple, it's a Grail thing," Jeanne explained out of her experience with it and the resulting Wars. "In part these issues are why it ended up being an Event."
(Concert Area)
"I suppose we'll get to see the other half of my work," Vlad commented with a hint of tension. "Though our hosts gave me measurements, obviously the Servant you brought in was actually different so it made for a bit of last-minute adjustment excitement while Mata Hari was filling her in on the script."
"I'm sure you managed splendidly," Marie said encouragingly. "Seeing how you made Elizabeth's clothes, no one could doubt your skill."
A number of villagers seemed to be streaming in, however it seemed like the large designated area was intended to give each concertgoer room, rather than accommodate a massive number. Chloe looked around but it seemed clear that there were no individuals near Servant-level, so there was no cause for concern, at least at present.
Several spotlights mounted on the castle turned on and aimed themselves to the side of the stage as an orange-themed Elizabeth appeared, waving with a large smile on her face. Of course, she was carrying a microphone stand even though it wasn't necessary for her to be heard. Perhaps unfortunately.
"Ahem." The announcer for the night was Robin Hood, by the sound of it. "Welcome to a special night's Halloween concert. Debuting today is Castle Csetje's own Elizabeth Bathory !"
"And we're off to the races," Jeanne said, shifting her grip on the usual banner.
"How are all my deerlets and puppies on this fine night ?!" Confidently taking her place center-stage, Elizabeth planted her microphone and began to-
"Wait, what's this?" Robin Hood sounded very excited all of a sudden. "How did this happen? Who would have thought it? Isn't this Earth's very own - !"
"This sounds like the set up for a wrestling match interruption event," Chloe commented.
"Oh, you watch those too?" Anne said, sounding a bit excited herself. "We've had some drinks with Blackbeard over a few episodes, but it's also fun to watch Scathach school him in the Training Grounds too, despite having only Caster statistics."
A second figure abruptly showed up on the opposite side of the stage from where Elizabeth had made her appearance, clearly visible thanks to a couple of spotlights which had, of course, known where to point for her benefit. In a dress of seemingly simple construction, but with clear attention to the small details of its decoration, was a pink...
"Nero Claudius, hailing from our friends in Chaldea, who came for this event !"
"What's going on here?" Elizabeth demanded, but little did she know that at the moment, a different plan for the concert was unfolding. Or perhaps she did and was just playing along.
"Sometimes competing, sometimes cooperating, every idol has her rival, and a rival needs that idol !" At this point, the announcer was clearly just building hype under the guise of answering the night's star.
"To have a whole Event for your debut, I'm in awe, it's a great thing you'd got, Elizabeth ! I'll have to come up with something as good to invite you to, but for today we're here to celebrate ! And of course, the starting song will be...?"
And indeed the music was quickly gearing up for -
"A classic Bathory hit, AKOGARETION !"
"... like an idol... (if you) it's okay if it doesn't work out... (are with me)..."
"Huh, that Nero is following along with her pretty well. Wasn't that song single singer originally?" Gudao asked Chloe, who nodded.
"Hmm," said Jeanne thoughtfully. "Yeah, I can believe that isn't the original Nero now; she'd never do something like this."
"It's rather ironic that she was successful as a pretender due to being a decent performer when the original was terrible. Then again, the people's perceptions are even more important for Heroic Spirits," Marie mused. "To think, when the minds of enough humans are distorted, we get put on the Throne or even change to match their historical whims of the day."
"Something troubling you?" da Vinci asked before Gudako quietly shushed her. "Now isn't the time for that."
"What are you doing, did you get drunk Anne?" Mary protested as her partner started dancing, having decided to pull her along for the ride. "No wait, there wasn't any Servant booze, I should know."
"We might as well enjoy this for what it is; some sort of contradiction only allowed in a singularity," da Vinci gave in to the pull of the flow, now drawing in Chloe much to Mary's dismay.
"Looks good from here," Vlad said approvingly. "But I have some last backstage tidying to do, excuse me."
(As the concert is progressing)
"What a racket," a certain Assassin-class Servant grumbled, while having to inelegantly make her way up to her castle after a tiresome series of random encounters with numerous undead who seemed intent on infesting the path. "What even are the guards doing, do I have to put a stop to all this myself?"
"No, woof." The answer came from the gates, where the unlikely duo of an animal-eared Servant in an elegant apron-topped kimono and a smaller schoolgirl Servant had apparently been waiting for her.
"And... a child and a dog are going to stop me? At the gate to my own home?" Camilla scoffed. "For delaying me, you deserve this - (Phanto-"
Staggering backwards as she was abruptly struck by multiple black spears out of nowhere, she was forced to swing her staff wildly in order to keep Tamamo Cat, who had quickly pounced on her with claws out, at bay. "I'll show you a cat's claws, wan !"
"I wish you'd been a bit clearer about this," her human ally grumbled. "This could've been much cleaner."
"We mustn't pull away the other Masters; disrupting the concert is no good." Although a bladed staff should have been at an advantage against someone using bare paws, Camilla was not able to score a hit on Cat due to the constant risk of the Berserker grabbing the weapon with her superior speed and hard-to-predict movements.
"You're creating a disaster !" Camilla snarled while trying both to get some room from Tamamo Cat while also using her to block Sasaku's line of sight. Obviously, that second one was also trying to move around to get a clear shot while Cat couldn't simply pull back for her without risking being caught by Camilla's famous Noble Phantasm.
"Don't worry. Just rest in peace, woof."
l
Notes:
There's an Akogatetion on youtube, uploaded by Marvyo with their own translation of the lyrics.