Hello everyone and welcome to the start of chapter 56 of the story. And hum...how are the rolls for Summer Kama going? If not well, don't bother, gacha life is like that. And as always, find something to eat, get in a comfortable position to read and lets start it.
DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.
"And the cable goes here according to the instructions."
"Almost done then. All of her vital signals are about to become operational."
"We just need to adjust and stabilize the mana energy inside."
Jekyll and Faust were both working on the configurations of the human-looking doll that Victor Frankenstein had created. It was the last and remaining creation that the deceased scientist had left for his allies to use. As a fellow scientist, Jekyll felt mournful upon learning of his acquaintnce's death, but almost quickly shoved that feeling away, focusing now on activating the last gift Victor had given them together with Faust.
As the two worked on it in Jekyll's office, Mordred was watching it in the background, boringly yawning. "Hey nerds. How much time until you're done with it?"
"Just three more minutes." Faust replied to the knight.
"You said that exact same thing three minutes ago!" Mordred protested.
"We can't rush it Mordred." Jekyll told her. "We have to make sure her activation process is done correctfully without mistakes."
Mordred eventually got off the wall she was leaning to. "Yada yada whatever. Gonna see what the others are up to." She walked torwards the door, about to leave the room. "Warn us when it's done." Leaving Jekyll's office, Mordred saw the Chaldea group talking with the hologram of , most likely informing him of what they saw and learned from the time the connection had gone out.
"You found a human sized doll in his lab? I surely missed a lot in a span of an hour." Romani speaked as he heard the report from the group. "And good thing to know Mephistopheles won't come back to bother us. He sounds really annoying by the way you described him."
"You have no idea." Nala said to the doctor.
"But going to the most important detail: why is the enemy here is after Peko and Nala?"Romani emphasized on that point.
"Why don't know very well yet. We just heard it from both Mephistopheles and Jack the Ripper during the fight." Ritsuka said to Romnai.
"Which means they'll be more onto us here. Specially me and Nala." Peko speaked.
"As long as they don't know where Jekyll's base is." Ritsuka replied.
Mash thought about the possibilities for why the enemy wanting to capture Peko and Nala. "Perhaps it's because they see something special. Our enemy definetly knows something that we don't about Peko and Nala."
"Sounds the most plausible theory here." Romani said, partially agreeing with Mash. "And if it is, we won't hesitate in trying to get some answers after defeating them."
"I'm not sure if the enemy would be willing to do that as much as I wish to." Peko replied.
"If they won't spill it out willingly, we make them by force." Nala told to her sibling. "Ain't no way I'm going to let a chance like this slide! And you Peko?"
"M-Me neither! I want to get as much information about our past as you do." Peko answered.
"Then it will be a priority to interrogate our enemies about their knowledge of Peko and Nala if possible." Ritsuka commented.
"And continuing to speak about our enemies, have you found out why Jack the Ripper thinks Peko is Oliver Twist?" Romani asked them.
"I think I do." Peko replied instantly. "While fighting, I asked her as 'Oliver', on how she figured it out it was me to which she responded by saying it was the smell of my scent."
"Your scent?" Mash said confused.
"Yeah, it's weird I know." Peko told her. "But apparently, me and Oliver must have an identical scent if Jack mistook me for him."
"And...what exactly Oliver Twist smells like?" Ritsuka questioned.
"That's what's been itching my head. I just don't know." Peko said.
"And if the true Oliver Twist isn't in this Singularity, then we will probably never know." Mash speaked.
"So we have to content with speculation for now." Nala said before staring at Peko. "This could've been avoided if you just told her you weren't him."
Before Peko could argue back, Romani did it for him. "Now, I think it wouldn't sound as easy as it seems. If Jack the Ripper is fully dwelved into that delusion, simply telling the truth wouldn't be enough to take her out of it."
"Plus, I doubt she would want to hear what we have to say as her opponents." Mash added.
"All she cares about is playing the twisted game of hers with us." Ritsuka said, also having the same opinion. "But I think we can take a conclusion out of this."
Peko stared at him. "Hm? Like what?"
"That you need to take a shower." Ritsuka replied with a smirk, shocking Peko and causing Nala to try and contain her laughter behind him.
"D-DID YOU SERIOUSLY PULLED THAT ONE ON ME RITSUKA?!" Peko yelled embaressed at Ritsuka.
Mash however was able to reach to a completely different thought. "I know this was a joke but, what if it's actually that? Peko takes a shower and the similar scent he had with Oliver's is gone?" She shared her thinking with the rest. "Jack wouldn't confound Peko with that character anymore, right?"
Altough it didn't sound a bad idea, Romani was doubtful. "I don't know. The image of Peko being Oliver Twist might be something that's already implanted into Jack the Ripper's mind, meaning that even without a scent, she would fully believe Peko to be him until the end. First, we should see if Peko always had the same scent has Oliver Twist or it was something that occured in this Singularity to make such thing happen."
"A thing that happened in this Singularity that made Peko gain Oliver's scent..." Ritsuka put a thumb under his chin, trying to remind of the moment they first arrived to the Singularity all the way until now.
Peko was also trying to recall them, trying to find a possible answer. "Hmm, what could have been?"
"I think you should worry more about avoiding that obsessive stalker of yours instead of discussing how you smell like." Mordred said, stepping into the group. "Hope I'm not ruining this investigation by any means."
"No you aren't Mordred-san. Feel free to join us." Mash replied to the knight.
"Also, how are the things going in the office?" Nala asked her about the situation of Jekyll and Faust's work progress.
"Boring as hell. You ain't missing a thing believe me." Mordred responded. "But they told me they were about to finish up."
"So they really are going to bring that robot-doll person to life?" Nala said impressed. "That's cool!"
"When you put it like that it sure sounds amazing. I too can't wait to see it!" Ritsuka said.
"Sheesh! You talk like you've never seen that sort of stuff before." Mordred said before staring at Peko and Nala. "But so, it's true that you two can't remeber a thing about your past?"
"No. We already told you that." Nala responded.
"Not even some glimpses of your parents? Dad? Mom?" Mordred continued with her questions.
"Well...we kinda get some weird visions or dreams about some persons we think it might be them. Specially our dad." Peko told to the knight. "It does feel like staring at the past."
"Any detail of what your dad looks like then?" Mordred asked him.
"Physically, I still don't know. But he looked like an happy and caring person from what I could perceive." Peko said with a smile. "That only makes me want to find him faster."
"A caring dad eh?" Mordred replied before chuckling. "You better find him as soon as you can shortie. Having a good parent these days is a blessing."
"Why? You never liked your dad?" Nala asked Mordred curiously.
Mordred tried to avoid the question. "I'm too exhausted to answer. Read the books about me instead if you wanna figure out."
Ritsuka found Mordred's excuse weird. "But can't you-"
Mash interrupted him. "Respect her decision master. If she doesn't want to tell us, she's in her right." Ritsuka decided to comply.
Nala continued to speak with Mordred, deciding to respect the knight's choice as well. "Hmm, whatever kind of relationship you had with your dad, I hope you still care about one another till today."
"Yeah, yeah..." Mordred said, wanting them to drop that topic already. "By the way, I may be a servant but I feel I could eat something now. Does anyone got somethin'?"
Nala quickly had an idea. "Of course! Just wait a few seconds." She said, immediatly going to grab some random object on top of the table of the living room.
"Oh no. She is going to do that again..." Ritsuka speaked.
"She's gonna do what?" Mordred asked confused.
"Just pretend you like it and be nice to her, okay?" Peko told Mordred, only increasing the knight's confusion.
Approaching Mordred, Nala was holding a random decoration item on her hands. "Check this out!" She said, magically transforming the object into a pear.
"What a-" Mordred reatced, perplexed.
"Do you think Jekyll-san will be okay with you doing that to his furniture?" Mash asked Nala, thinking that the younger girl's action was a bit precipitated.
"Meh, no biggie. He probably has more of this stuff around the house." Nala said, handing the magically made fruit to Mordred.
"Well, talk about having a handy magic." Mordred said, looking at the pear in her hand and taking a bit out of it...before spitting out the food from her mouth in disgust. "WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?! This is fucking bland and way worse than my brother's potato dishes!"
"I told you to at least be nice!" Peko said to Mordred.
The knight immediatly dropped the fruit on the ground. "Not even a starving homeless would eat this crap!"
"Hey! I made that fruit for free and of good will you damn punk!" Nala replied agressively to Mordred who didn't took it lightly.
"Say that to my face again pip-squeak!" She clashed her forhead with Nala's.
Romani watched it on the sideline with the rest, sighing. "Do you know what to do, don't you?"
"Almost becoming routine..." Ritsuka replied as he Mash and Peko went to separate Nala and Mordred from one another.
"I think it would be better if you started actually cooking instead." Peko whispered to Nala.
"Or if she had a better taste." Nala replied annoyed.
"Just let it go Mordred. We'll pick up something in the kitchen for you to eat." Ritsuka told the knight, trying to calm her.
"That'd be much better than feeling like I was just poisoned." Mordred told him.
As soon as the situation was appeased, the door of Jekyll's office opened, catching everyone's attention.
"It looks like they've completed it." Romani speaked, seeing Jekyll and Faust walk out of the room.
"Fu fou!" Fou even appeard behind Mash's back to see what would happen next.
"Oh, I thought you were still sleeping Fou." Mash commented, staring at the animal in her shoulder.
"You woke up just in time then." Peko told Fou.
"So, how was the final result?" Ritsuka asked to both Jekyll and Faust.
Jekyll smiled in response. "It's with honour that we present to you, Victor Frankenstein's most recent and final creation!" Stepping out of the way, Jekyll introduced the group to the artificial human who had appearence of a girl as old as Mordred, dressed in a white wedding dress, short red hair covering her eyes with some yellow metal pieces coming from her head. Having gained life only now, the human doll was having trouble to walk, having to request Faust's help in order to take some steps.
Everyone reacted with amazement.
"Wow, she's pretty!" Nala commented.
"Victor Frankenstein...you damn genius." Romani said, trying to contain some tears. "How dare you have left us so soon?!"
"What do you mean by that?" Da Vinci appeard suddenly behind him.
"N-Nothing. Just marveling myself over how incredible this artificial human's creator was." Romani told her.
"On that I have to agree. The way this doll was created and shaped to resemble an actual human is almost near to perfection!" Da Vinci expressed her own opinion.
"No doubt. My colleague was famous and well respected in our circle for a reason." Jekyll said, staring back at the artifical human girl as Faust helped her sitting on a chair.
"Did he ever gave a name to her?" Peko asked, wanting to know if Victor's final creation had been named before his death.
"I'm afraid not. All that we got from his final note was that she was his most ambitious project." Faust responded. "So she has yet to receive a name."
"Oh! Does that mean we get to name her?" Nala asked a bit enthusiastically.
"Well, if the only person who had that right is dead, I see why not." Mordred told her.
"But can't she speak for herself?" Ritsuka said. "Perhaps she can tell us her name that way."
In response, some small grunts came from the artificial girl's mouth. Nothing that could be labeled as tangible words.
"Looks like you have your answer for that." Faust said. "Altough an incredible feat, there was still some few parts of her body that needed patching. Unfortunately, Victor Frankenstein was never able to fix that. And neither did us. So all that will come from her mouth will be only in forms of grunts, groans and etc." The alchemist explained.
"Then it is indeed up to us to give her a name." Mash said, starting to think about the options. "Does anyone have something in mind?"
"Ai Nonaka!" Romani immediatly exclaimed, gaining weird stares from everyone in the room, including Da Vinci.
"Why would you give a japanese name to someone who has nothing to do with Japan doc?" Ritsuka asked to Romani who crossed his arms.
"What? It's a cool name." The doctor told them.
"Probably the name of one of those weird idols you see on the internet I bet." Da Vinci said, looking to the side. "I on the other hand would call her Lisa."
"I see what you want to acomplish with that." Romani told to himself.
"Nah, I think we can have better options." Ritsuka speaked. "Anyone else?"
Mordred thought of it for a brief second. "Gar-...nah, forget about it."
"Hummm...Gretchen?" Faust proposed before thinking more about it. "No. Better not."
Mash was the next one to speak. "Sorry to say this but I think she already has a name." Mash went to explain. "If the man who created her was Victor Frankenstein, the character from the novel, than there is no doubt that this artificial human's identity is-"
"Red Berry!" Nala exclaimed her option for the name, speaking over Mash.
"Red Berry?" Ritsuka asked her confused.
"Because of her red hair. And strawberries which is nice." Nala responded.
"That sounds kinda stupid." Peko told her.
"Oh really? What's the name you propose then?" Nala asked to Peko.
"It's...hum...Her name..." Peko tried to come up with something.
"You didn't even thought about one idiot." Nala said.
"What about Alice?" Ritsuka told them.
"Do you have any idea how many women here are named Alice? Gotta be more unique than that." Mordred replied.
"Hey now! I've got a good name we can give her." Jekyll called everyone's attention. "Since Victor Frankenstein is no longer with us, and this is the last trace of the legacy he has left as well as his final and eager project, why don't we call her Frankenstein in his honour?"
"A nice and sweet idea. I approve." Faust told to Jekyll.
"Hummm, it's quite a damn unique name to have, that's for sure." Mordred said with a smile, also approving the choice.
"I also am in favor of being that one." Mash talked. "Despite already having that name in mind due to the circumnstances..."
"Yep! Seems a fitting name for me." Ritsuka also gave his opinion.
"I think we could also shorten the name a bit by calling her 'Fran'." Nala said.
"'Fran' does have a nice ring to it. Perhaps even better than the full name." Peko added, with the recently named artificial girl, Frankenstein, replying with some happy grunts.
"And it seems she also agrees on that." Romani noted.
"Then it's decided! Her name from now on will be Frankenstein, or 'Fran' for short." Da Vinci announced. "Even though me and Romani already had our guesses on that ending up being her name because of the novel. But it was more funny partaking on this name choice."
"Understood." Jekyll said, standing in front of Fran and putting his hands on her shoulders. "It's a pleasure to meet you Fran! I was one of your creator's accquaintances and now I and everyone else will be the ones looking out for you." He tried to explain the current situation to Frankenstein, with more grunting noise being the only thing she could say in response.
"Do you think she comprehended the whole thing?" Nala asked to the ohers, unsure of what Frankenstein response was.
"It's hard to understand someone who can't speak coherently." Jekyll responded. "So I think moving her head in response would be be-"
"Get out of the way." Mordred unapologetically shoved Jekyll to the side, staring Frankenstein in the eye. "Oi! Your creator died, everything here in London is going to shit and we are the guys who are trying to prevent its collapse and who also took you out from the lab and brought you here." The knight gave a brief resume "Do...you...copy?"
Frankenstein replied with some gentle noises from her mouth and some more before finishing 'talking'.
Mordred turned around to face the rest. "Yep. She understood perfectly."
"No way that you actually understood what she said." Faust said to Mordred with some skepticism and unbelief.
"I did. Fran told us she is more than happy to be with us and will gladly offer help from now on." Mordred replied.
"No way! You have to be joking!" Nala responded to the knight before Frankenstein made more grunts.
"No I'm not and she's saying I'm saying the truth, so, end of debate." Mordred told to the younger girl with a smug.
"I can also feel Fran is somewhat telling the truth." Mash speaked.
Peko approached Frankenstein. "Do you need something? Since you've just woke up you might be feeling hungry."
Frankenstein responded by nodding her head some few times, confirming it.
Nala had already something in mind. "Well, looks like I'll be going-"
However Ritsuka stopped her before she could advance further. "Just rest for now Nala. We will give Fran something from the kitchen."
"You better get ready to go outside again after that." Jekyll told them.
"Hm? Why?" Peko asked the scientist.
"I've got recent news from another of my contacts on the info network we created around the city. I know you all have just arrived here two hours ago, but the matter of this situation is too important to be ignored now."
"I ain't complaining." Mordred said. "That means I got to do more stuff for the day instead of lying boredly in the couch."
"We are also willing to go." Mash told to Jekyll. "What's the problem this time?"
"I know it may sound unimaginable to hear this but, latest reports have informed me of what appears to be a magical book with will of its own entering people's homes and attacks them in the Soho area." Jekyll revealed to them.
"At this point I was expecting something more absurd to be honest." Ritsuka replied. "Still, just show us the coordinates and we'll be immediatly on our way."
"After some snack timeout that is." Nala responded.
"We had it half an hour ago Nala." Mash told her.
"...Having a second snack timeout is also good you know?" Nala said with a sheepish smile.
"Fu fou! (I agree)"
"Then we better make sure everything and everyone is ready before we leave again." Peko said.
"I assume the group of people who'll go outside will be the same as before." Romani talked before looking at Mordred and Faust. "You two will come with us, won't you?"
"Do you even need to make that question? Of course we will!" Mordred responded.
"That's good to hear." Ritsuka replied, proceeding to stare at the other servant. "And what about you Fau-"
"Sorry. I'm not going out this time." Faust declared, caughting everyone by surprise. "I'm not even sure I'll stay on this appartment again with you to be more specific. I plan to go back working alone."
"Eh? Why?" Ritsuka asked to the alchemist.
"You jackass!" Mordred went next to Faust and grabbed him by the collar. "Didn't you told us you had joined us from now on?!"
"I said that I would join you for the time being. Not that I would be a permanent member of this group. That's a difference." Faust responded, keeping his calming posture.
"What are your motives exactly for such decision?" Jekyll demanded politely.
"Personal choice of a man who prefers to work alone. Plus, I intend to know what the people in front of this 'Project Demonic Fog' are up to. I bet you wouldn't mind having another contact around London to keep you updated." Faust explained his reason to Jekyll.
"Are you even sure you could fend for youself alone?" Peko talked to him. "If more servants like Mephistopheles and Jack appear to fight you all alone there will be almost no chance you could survive!"
"I'm aware of the dangers. But sometimes, we have to play it risky if we want to have the results we expect." Faust responded. "And altough the enemy may know of my existence by now, you and your sister are the bigger targets here. Going out to the streets this time could be more dangerous for you than for me." Faust warned Peko and also Nala of their position as targets of the enemy.
"That's why they are with us." Ritsuka responded to the alchemist. "Don't think they'll go alone."
"You could also protect them by going out with us Faust-san." Mash speaked. "The more we are, the harder will be for the enemies to defeat us." Her words made Faust rethink a bit.
"Ah, screw it!" Mordred told Mash. "If Mr. Lone Wolf here says he doesn't want to stay with us then he can leave for all I care!" She said slightly pissed.
Frankenstein grunted, perhaps trying to say something about the matter.
"Hey, Jekyll. You will stay behind taking care of Fran, won't you?" Faust asked to the scientist.
"Yes I will." Jekyll responded.
"Do you think you'll need an extra hand for help?" Faust made another question.
"There's no need for it thank you. I'm more than capable of taking care of her alone." Jekyll replied, with the answer having made up Faust's mind.
"Okay then." The alchemist proceeded to look at the others. "I'll go out to streets with you and help you solve this problem. But after we deal with it, I'll go a separate way from yours."
"Mmh, you'll help us but once it's over you're gonna leave us to do your own things. Talk about a complicated jerk." Mordred commented.
"What made you decide that all of a sudden?" Nala questioned the alchemist.
"It would be rude and ungrateful of me to just abandon you like that. So I'll aid you on one more mission before leaving." Faust responded.
"How noble of you..." Mordred said sarcastically.
"Despite being only for this time, I appreciate you coming with us Faust-san." Mash told him.
"Don't thank me. I'm not a person deserving of that." Faust told to the shielder.
"Is he perhaps still thinking about our encounter with Mephistopheles?" Ritsuka thought to himself, seeing a bit of sadness on the alchemist's face.
"Then everyone is confirmed to go." Romani said.
"We better start setting up the coordinates of the local on the map and send it to you." Da Vinci added, going to work on it.
Jekyll approached the holograms of the two. "Since you seem to have the brains and intellect in communications and other related areas, could I ask you for something?"
Romani rised an eyebrow. "Humm, sure. What is it?"
"And now you turn left."
The hologram of Jekyll instructed to the group as they were wandering outside on the streets of London. Thanks to the cooperation of Romani and Da Vinci, the scientist was now also able to communicate with his allies while staying outside the building.
"I have to thank you Dr. Archaman and Ms. Da Vinci for having lended me your capabilities. Now I'm able to accompany your progress outside." Jekyll thanked both Romani and Da Vinci.
"No problem. It's always great to work with other smart people." Romani replied.
"What a shame. There goes my main motive for wanting to go outside." Mordred commented.
"I've heard that Mord-H-Hey don't touch that Fran!" Jekyll's hologram moved away as he went to stop Frankenstein from doing something. "That item has been a valuable treasure to my family for three generations!"
"I was thinking...since Fran is an artificial human, that means she doesn't need to eat or sleep like an actual servant right?" Peko shared his thought with the rest of the group.
"That's true. Victor's notes said that Fran can feel hunger but is immune to starvation and other required needs of a normal human." Mash responded to the boy.
"However, she was activated only recently and still needs to get used to her own movable capabilities." Faust told, accompanying them. "Sending her out now to fight would be way too risky."
"Then we should let Fran rest and stay at the base for now, is that what you mean?" Ritsuka asked to Faust.
"Precisely." The alchemist replied.
"But do we even know if Fran can fight?" Nala asked them.
"If Victor has constructed her with the primary purpose of helping us, then I don't doubt he would have designed her body for combat as well." Jekyll responded before having Frankenstein shoving her head in front of him, appearing in the hologram while making more noises. "P-Please Fran not now. I'm in the middle of a conversation."
"Looks like things there are a bit hard to handle." Romani said with a smile.
"Hope you don't regret having rejected Faust's help to take care of Fran." Nala added.
"True. Due to have become operational just an hour ago, Fran can be quite the curious girl." Faust said to Jekyll, letting a small smile escape his mouth. "Be careful to not let her break anything."
"Relax and don't think about it. I can perfectly-uh?...Don't play with the curtains like that Fran!" Jekyll exclaimed, moving out of the hologram for a second time.
"Doesn't sound like he's having a good time." Ritsuka said in reaction.
"I'm feeling lucky to not be in his position at the moment." Peko replied.
"At least try to see the positive side of it." Mordred turned her head to face Peko. "He now gets to do something instead of being alone on his office doing only god knows what."
"Can't say you're lying with that one." Nala responded to the knight.
"Bold of you to think a knight would lie constantly shortie." Mordred told her. "...Except for a situation or two."
Before the group could carry on their conversations and whatnot, a group of enemies appeard around them.
"Enemies on both flanks! They have spotted us master!" Mash announced, bringing her shield ready for another combat.
Peko also summoned his sword. "It was a matter of time it seems!"
"Watch out you two! Remember that you are their leaders main priority!" Faust said to the twins, lightning up the lamp from his staff.
"We know! And that's why I don't have any intention of holding back!" Nala replied with her blade in hand.
Jekyll was about to watch the action take place, a bit concerned. "Be careful everyone!"
Romani on the other hand was more relaxed. "Oh yeah, this will be your first time watching them fight. I can assure you that these enemies aren't much trouble for them. So instead sit back and enjoy the spectacle." He said, fully confident of the Chaldea's group and the servants abilities to defeat the group of enemies that had appeard.
And it turns out the doctor was very much right. The group had little to no problem in dealing with the enemies except for maybe a more durable helter skelter at the end. Still, they had defeated the enemies without sweating very much.
"And the situation is cleared!" Peko exclaimed happily, dematerializing his sword after seeing there was no opponents left.
"This fight lasted what? A minute and a half? Could barely feel it." Nala speaked.
"That means you are getting better." Ritsuka told the two, headpatting them as some sort of congratulations.
"W-Well, thanks. But I think the same would go for you Ritsuka." Peko replied to his friend.
"Yeah, you're also getting better at giving us instructions and support mid fight." Nala added, smilling to her team's leader.
"Heh...thank you both." Ritsuka said with a smile while scratching the back of his head.
With the fight over and catching the talk between the three, Faust approached them. "As much as it's endearing to hear that, I'm afraid not everyone of your group is feeling the same." The alchemist said, gaining puzzled looks from the three before signaling at Mash, who was standing alone with a dissapointed expression on her face.
"I'm not doing good enough..." She said to her own mind, staring at her shield. And altough she didn't said anything, Mash's sentiment was perceptible enough for Ritsuka, Peko and Nala to feel it.
"Mash..." Ritsuka said sadly to himself. Peko and Nala also felt sorrow in seeing her like that.
"Reminding of it, Mash has indeed been lacking sometimes during our fights in this Singularity." Peko told to the rest, remembering how Mash was having some trouble to keep fighting as of late, having a slight harder time in fighting her opponents than Nala and perhaps even him. This battle only reinforced the frustration inside Mash as she also commited some sloppy mistakes during it.
"That must be affecting her self-esteem." Nala responded. "I don't want her to feel that! It's wrong to see Mash like that!" She said, wanting to cheer and uplift her friend somehow. But before any of the three could approach Mash and try to rise her spirits, Mordred did that first.
"Oi!" She called out Mash's attention, getting in front of her.
The shielder wasted no time to look at Mordred. "Hm? Any problem Mord-" For the shock of everyone, Mordred shutted Mash up by headbutting her in the face.
"WAKE THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Mordred shouted as Mash felt to her knees on the ground, holding her face with her hand in a mix of pain and surprise.
"!" Ritsuka was speechless, unbeknownst of what to say, much like Peko, Faust and even the holograms of Romani and Jekyll who watched the whole thing.
Nala however was quicker to snap out of her own shocked state. "H-Hey! Is that a way to treat your ally-" Nala was about to charge angrily at Mordred before being stopped by Ritsuka.
"Wait! I think Mordred has something to say." He told to the girl who reacted with a confused glare at him.
"M-Mordred-san..." Mash speaked, still baffled by what the knight just did to her.
"Don't you dare come with that 'Mordred-san' crap at me! Just answer this! Are you the wielder of that damn shield or are you not?" Mordred questioned Mash a bit agressively.
"H-huh?" Mash responded with uncertity.
"If some hard hits are enough to make your wimpy legs slip and falter, then you can forget about helping your companions! Hell, if you get all that doubtful at the smallest inconveniences, forget about even being a servant." Mordred continued her rant at Mash who took silently the criticism.
"She really isn't holding anything back..." Peko commented.
"Hearing some hard complaints is what a person might need the most sometimes." Faust replied, comprehending the intentions of the knight behind those words.
"But now answer me this." Mordred crouched down, being eye to eye with Mash. "Do you use your shield to fight or just for show?"
"T-To fight of course!" Mash responded almost immediatly.
Mordred then stood up, preparing her sword in hand. "Prove it." Not saying a thing, Mordred started charging her sword, red lightning coming out of it. "Block this attack of mine if you are trully worthy of using the shield."
"What?" Mash said surprised.
"Isn't that going a bit far already?" Jekyll questioned.
Ritsuka disagreed. "Mash needs this." Peko and Nala choosed to not oppose, having the same thinking as Ritsuka. Faust too.
"You better get your arms and legs in position and defend this if you don't wanna sully his name!" Mordred warned Mash as she was about to sprint torwards the Shielder, ready to attack.
"Hmm..." Mash put her feet aligned, her shoulders steady and gazed at Mordred. "Ready."
"Good!" Mordred shouted, immediatly sprinting at Mash and sharply swinging her blade at her. "Guard this!"
The impact was ferocious. Not on the same level of some attacks Mash has defended before but still for a supposed normal hit, Mordred had put a lot of strenght in it. Mash response was obviously to protect from the attack with her shield. The balance on her feet was almost caught by surprise, yet the demi-servant was capable to keep them in place upon the contact of Mordred's sword with her shield. However, the knight wasn't done with it as Mordred pressed harder her blade's metal against Mash's defense, trying to break the Shielder's stance.
"Ghh!" Mash grunted, her back started to lean to the back as her hands felt the shield being pushed back by Mordred's sword.
"C'mon now! Can you do better than that?" Mordred talked, applying more brute strenght on her hit.
Mash didn't know if those words were meant to provoke her or motivate her, but it was certain they cause a response inside her. Slowly, she begun to fight back against Mordred's pressure. "Of course...I can!" She responded, surprisingly being able to overcome Mordred's power and strenght, pushing the knight away and unmaking her attack. "You stupid idiot." She told Mordred. "H-Huh? Did I just said that?"
"Hahaha! Not bad. Not bad at all." Mordred was content with Mash's result, fisting the Shielder on the shoulder. "I knew that shield didn't become yours by luck."
Mash blushed a bit. "E-eeh...thanks." She didn't understood where that sudden boost of strenght came from since Ritsuka didn't gave her any support here. But most of all, she was surprised to see Mordred had decided to test her capabilities right here.
"Look, altough you aren't a complete servant, you're still half one, right?" Mordred asked Mash, gaining a nod in response. "An advice then: If you wanna perform and do better alongside your group, don't think about holding back." The knight said. "I could tell from the beggining you haven't been using your true potential and servant power status."
"What makes you think that?" Mash asked her.
Mordred touched Mash's shield in response. "Because a weapon like that can do much more than what you think. Specially if you know how to use it properly. And hey, I'm not saying that you fight bad with it. On the contrary, you actually do it well. Which is why it pisses me a lot more when I see you hesitating during battle. That's why I needed to give you a wake up call."
"With an headbutt?" Peko questioned Mordred's method.
"Learn this! When someone is feeling down or doubtful, an headbutt to snap them out is always helpful!" Mordred told him with a smile.
"That doesn't sound like a very ethical approach." Faust said with a drop of sweat falling from his forhead.
"But it surely must be efficient..." Nala thought in contrast, not disliking Mordred's way that much.
"Screw if it's ethical or not! I do what the hell I want! That's my way of living!" Mordred said to the alchemist, unintentionally making Peko smile after hearing such statement. She caught sight of that. "And why are you smilling shortie Nº2? Found funny what I said?"
"Oh n-no, I didn't! Quite the opposite, I think you speaked very well with those sentences." Peko responded.
"You agree with her Mash?" Ritsuka asked to his servant who was reflecting about what Mordred told her before being called out by him.
"As much as Mordred-san's headbutt was unsolicited for..." She faced Mordred, giving the knight a smile. "I think you did say some helpful things."
"Heh. Course I did." Mordred responded. "But can you stop adding a '-san' to my name please?"
"It can't be help I'm afraid. She's just like that." Romani speaked.
"And I think it's a characteristic that fits her well." Peko replied.
"You think so Peko?" Mash asked him.
"Well, it just would be weird for you to stop adressing people like that all of a sudden if you ask me." Peko told her.
"Yep. We like Mash just as the way she is." Nala added, smilling to the older girl who in response smiled warmly.
"I see." She said. "I think I also like to be this way."
"Fou fou!" Fou appeard behind Nala's back, also with some words to say.
"Hey! Weren't you with Mash?" Nala picked up the animal. "How did you went to me all of a sudden and without warning."
"Fu (Secret. Won't tell you)"
"Fou things I assume." Peko said.
Mordred took a look at Fou. "Do you even know what this creature is supposed to be?"
"We don't have the smallest idea." Romani told her.
"But he's our mascot!" Nala said happily, that is, before having Fou angrily trying to hit her face.
"Fou Fou!"
"A-Ah! Sorry! Teammate! I meant teammate!" Nala said as she tried to calm down Fou, much to everyone else's enjoyment.
"Your people are quite the bunch." Jekyll told to Ritsuka in particular, with Faust also besides them.
"And the funny thing is that we've only known each other for a few months now." Ritsuka responded. "Before that, I wasn't aware about any of this deal of Chaldea and saving humanity. I had a total different life."
"And how it was like that different life of yours?" Faust asked, joining the conversation.
"It was normal. Doing normal things, dealing with normal situations and...leaving with other normal people." Ritsuka responded remembering of his time before having stumbled upon Chaldea.
That made Faust think about a lot more other questions he wanted to ask. Specially one. "If you are from the future, Ritsuka Fujimaru, could you tell me...what mankind looks like and how its people behave?"
Jekyll liked that question, getting curious about that. "Oh, I too would like to know after all. Even if the time gap is only of a century and half, I'm sure humanity must have evolved since the beggining of this era that you call 'Industrial Revolution'."
"You're very right about that. There are so many technologic creations and machines in the future that you almost nobody from this age period would be able to imagine." Ritsuka said to Jekyll who got more enthusiastic by hearing that.
"Like flying cars?" He asked Ritsuka.
"We still havent reached to that level I think." Ritsuka said with some dissapointment. "But we're surely close to achive that."
"No way..." Jekyll said, fascinated. "Science must've also evolved a lot during the time gap between our periods."
"Surely! We humans have learned and discovered a lot of things in the ways of science by then. You would love to see it. And the holograms you saw and are now using is only the tip of the iceberg." Ritsuka told him. "Per exemple, there's this thing called a mobile pho-"
"But how exactly humanity achieved that progression in such small time?" Faust asked seriously to Ritsuka, putting a stop to his and Jekyll's enthusiasm, gaining their attention. "Does war and conflict still wages on in your time? Do people still continue to commit crimes and other deplorable acts for pitiful reasons?"
"W-Well...wars unfortunately are also an occurence from my time." Ritsuka responded to the alchemist.
"And they'll always be." Faust said. "Fruit of an individual's sense of pride, jealousy and misplaced ambition. A typical mage from my time wouldn't consider themselves to be on the same level of an average human. I guess that statement is still true in your future."
"Never interacted with one before so I can't really answer you that." Ritsuka told Faust, having never met a magus during his life.
Faust moved his head up, staring at the clouded sky of London. "Ever since the birth of civilization, people have always commited mistakes, for reasons they'd believe to be justified. When in reality, it's the man himself who is unable to seek change. How is the human in your society Fujimaru? Is it stubbornly flawed or has become a better being altogether?"
Ritsuka crossed his arms. "This is kinda a hard one to answer." He said to himself before thinking on a response he thought it would suit the best of his own vision about humanity. "Altough wars still happens and there's still many scummy people in the planet, I think humanity has been slightly changing for the good."
"Even with those problems still present?" Faust asked, almost shocked.
"Because unlike before, we aren't choosing to ignore them. At least majority of us." Ritsuka told him.
"Noticing a problem doesn't equal fixing it!" Faust said.
"Problems like that take time to go away. And perhaps they'll never will." Ritsuka explained. "But, if we acknowledge it and are capable of making those problems less frequent, it's already a good start."
"Then you mean...there's still hope at the end for everyone?" Faust asked, surprised by Ritsuka's words.
"I like to think so." Ritsuka said with a smile.
"Even if people and the world itself can be seen as flawed?"
"If being flawed would automatically deem someone as a bad person, then I think there would be no one good left in the planet." Ritsuka chuckled a bit. "So if you ask me, having flaws don't necessarily mean you are a bad person. It means you're normal, just like the rest of us."
Faust stood silent, analyzing the words of the master of Chaldea. Jekyll on the other hand clapped his hands, pleased with Ritsuka's response.
"Those were some nice things you said Ritsuka." Jekyll told him. "If there's more people with that same mindset as yours, then I can envision your time as brighter than ours."
"Thanks. But I kinda said what I thought it would sound the best." Ritsuka replied, scratching his head.
Looking at Ritsuka, Faust smiled to him. "That's an intresting viewpoint you have I admit. I never met someone who think the way you do."
"So you changed your mind and will stick with us after this?" Ritsuka asked, hopeful.
"Sorry but my decision still remains." Faust told him. "However, that doesn't translate to this being the last time we meet each other."
"What are you guys talking about?" Mordred asked them as she approached the three alongside everyone else.
"Unrelated matters." Faust responded quickly.
"Yeah. That..." Ritsuka responded, proceeding to talk with Mash. "You did well defending that attack from Mordred.
"Thanks master." Mash said, slightly blushing.
"Okay! I think it's time we end this pitstop to restart our walk torwards Soho." Romani said, staring at Jekyll. "We must be getting closer."
"Yes we are. Following the coordinates, our objective is five minutes from here." Jekyll responded, looking at the map of the city.
"Alright! Let's get going everyone!" Ritsuka told to everyone from the group, with them walking forward in direction to the local of their current mission.
"And it's right ahead now. We've reach it." Jekyll informed the group as they had reached to the location. "The informant is in an antique bookshop of the area. It must be right in front of you."
"So now we just have to walk forward and we eventually spot the bookshop." Peko said, starting to walk in front of everyone. "Glad that we didn't get much trouble-"
Mordred immediatly grabbed Peko by the arm, preventing him from going further. "Wait! There's something ahead."
Peko stared at the knight confused when Mordred pointed to something in front of them. With the Demonic Fog around the area being of low density, the entire group was able to see a giant black line inserted on the ground, creating a huge gap between them and the bookshop that was on the other side. The weirder thing was how the black line not only covered the pavement but also the trees, benches and everything else that laid on top of it, as if a giant pencil came from the sky and painted that specific part of the street from one end to the other.
"W-what is that?" Peko asked in bewilderment.
"Hell if I know." Mordred responded. "But it appears it's keeping us from reaching to the bookshop."
"So what we gonna do now?" Nala asked. "Can we contour it?"
"If there is another street that can lead us to the other side perhaps." Mash responded, making Ritsuka look at Romani and Jekyll.
"Any options on the map?" He asked to the two, who went to take a short glare at the map.
"Unfortunately this is the only way to the bookshop." Romani told them.
"Taking another route to bypass that line would take a long time for us. We can't make people suffer a minute longer when we are this close!" Jekyll added.
Faust took a tremulous breath. "Then we can't do nothing but pass over that line."
"And how do you intend to do that?" Mordred questioned him.
"You can jump to the other side, can you Nala?" Peko asked his sister.
"Yeah, but even then, how about you? Nala said back.
"Could this be work of an enemy or servant?" Ritsuka suggested.
"Hold on a second..." Romani told them, typing on his keyboard to detect any possible servant or enemy nearby. "Hmm, I'm detecting nothing. This black line must have appeard in a different way."
"Let me check on it." Faust speaked, approaching cautiously to the black line, pointing his staff's lamp at it without stepping on the line, trying to observe its nature or get a reaction out of it. Yet, nothing happened. "Hmm, this is definetly strange."
"Move aside." Mordred said, standing next to Faust and about to step the line.
"W-Wait! Are you sure it's safe!?" Faust said worryingly.
"Only one way to know." Mordred said, gambling with risk and setting her right foot on the black line. And then she did the same with her left one. She took another step. And another. The knight continued walking normaly, reaching to the other side of the line. No one attacked or cursed her. Mordred just went from one side to the other without any harm or disturbence. Even she was surprised. "Wow. Wasn't expecting to go this well..." She murmured to herself. "Hey! You can come guys! It's safe!"
"Coast clear!" Nala said, stepping on the black line and crossing it without thinking twice.
"Guess we got cautious over nothing." Romani told to the group. "Altough I'm not liking how easy it looks like to cross over the line."
"Let's cross it then, master, Peko." Mash told to the two.
"I'll follow right behind you." Faust said as Peko, Mash and Ritsuka begun to walk over the black line, with the alchemist behind them.
"Who or what put this thing here? I doubt the Demonic Fog can do that." Peko said as he walked.
"I doubt it too. Maybe an anomaly of this Singularity." Mash replied. "Hope that this is the only one in London. If there are more, this Singularity might be more unstable than what we initially thought."
"Right. The faster we get to the core of all this Demonic Fog, the better chances we have to avoid London's collapse." Ritsuka commented, walking behind the two.
"Alright. We're reaching the other side." Faust, who was a little more behind the three, said. "Our next action will be entering that bookshop and-!" Faust's eyes widened all of a sudden as they spotted something.
From the dark texture of the line, the alchemist saw an almost disfigured and shriveled arm covered by shadows emerge from the ground near Ritsuka's feet. Ritsuka didn't noticed it. No one did. Only Faust caught view of the horrendous arm who was about to grab Ritsuka by the ankle. Having no time to think, Faust acted instead by sprinting torwards Ritsuka and violently pushing him out of the arm's reach.
"W-WHA- Faust?!" Ritsuka exclaimed, being caught off guard by Faust's push as everyone else reacted the same. They were all on the other side of the line minus Faust, who had been grabbed by the shadowy arm.
"Why the hell you done that?!" Mordred yelled to the alchemist, confused.
"No! You can't come here!"
"What's wrong Faust? Why can't you move?" Peko asked him with all of their concerns starting to rise.
"Stay there!"
With the help of Mash, Ritsuka got up from the ground and was about to go back to the black line. "Do you need help Fa-"
"STOOOOOOP!" Faust stretched his arm to Ritsuka and yelled the highest he could, staggering the whole group. "DON'T TAKE ANOTHER STEP RITS-..." And like a 'click', Faust was gone alongside the black line.
No trace of the alchemist was left behind, with the portion of the street that had been covered by the line seemingly coming back to normal.
The entire group was left in jolt, with no one believing what they had just saw.
"F-Faust!" Despite the delay of the reaction due to the shock, Ritsuka screamed the alchemist's name.
Mordred wasted no time and runned to the area where the line once was. "Hey! Faust! FAUST!" She panickingly touched the ground with her hands, trying to search for Faust. "DAMN IT! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, FAUST!?" She screamed in anger, punching the ground.
"I-It can't be...that Faust is gone just like that..." Peko said, his brain still processing how a person vanished so suddenly in front of him.
"It was in a blink of an eye...In a second he was there and in the next one..." Nala speaked, also incredulous of what occured.
"Crap! I knew something was fishy about that line!" Romani cursed, angry at himself. "I'm sorry, this was my fault for letting it happened!"
"It wasn't!" Jekyll responded to Romani. "I should have accepted the option of finding another route to the bookshop. The blame is on me!"
"It doesn't matter who's fault was." Mash told the two. "Faust-san simply vanished with none of us being able to do anything."
"But he was right in front of us..." Ritsuka said, his arm still stretched and hand open in direction to the now missing alchemist. "He was...right there." Ritsuka closed his hand into a fist, with momentarily guilt filling his mind. "We could at least have tried saving him!"
"Hey! Do you imbeciles could shut up for a second with all that yelling!?"
A grumbling voice shouted from nowhere, catching everyone's attention.
"Huh? What was that voice?" Nala asked, trying to find its source.
From the bookshop to the left of them, the creak of the entrance door sounded as a blue haired boy with glasses opened it. He also had blue eyes and was wearing an entire blue outfit.
"It came from that kid?" Mash said, not being sure of it.
Jekyll however knew who he was. "Ah, it's the informant!"
"Oh, does it mean you bunch of rowdy idiots are my allies?" The boy said, surprisingly with a deep and adult voice, much to Chaldea's group astonishment.
"That's his voice?!"
"That's his voice?!"
"That's his voice?!"
"That's his voice?!"
"With all that noise you've probably done a great job of attracting any monster passing by." The boy told them, signaling the group to enter the bookshop. "Get in! I'll explain you the situation here."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 56!
Now what happened to Faust? Is he dead? Is he alright? Was he magically teleported to Bahamas? No one knows for now. What we know, is that the most roasting, jerkish and badass writer as arrived as well as the most adorable and only correct intepretation of Frankenstein. Mordred is also helping Mash work and use her shield better for plot reasons. But this time Galahad will sometimes take over Mash to throw some insults at Mordred because I find it funny and definetly lore important for the entire arthurian mythos.
Also, some kind of mixed news here. I'll be going back to college next week so I fear that next chapter might not exactly be released on Thursday Night/Friday Morning (depending on the time zone you live.) Altough I'll still try my best to publish and update the story weekly. I know it's something that you've been very used to for some time but there's moments where life gets in my way and gets a bit difficult on maintaining the weekly schedule. Still, don't worry, I'm not planning going on hiatus lol.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 57! Peace!
P.S:
Ritsuka: Hey Gilgamesh! Could I see the treasures you keep stashed on your Gate of Babylon please?
Gilgamesh: Watch your tongue mongrel! A king like me wouldn't dare lower his sovereignity to appease mere mortals like you!
(Ritsuka shows a cute and innocent Peko and Nala to Gilgamesh)
Nala (adorably begging): Please King Gilgamesh. Just this time.
Peko (adorably begging as well): We just want to witness the great treasury that befits the great achivements of King Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh:...Fine. (Opens Gate of Babylon) Just don't break anything.