Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 60! And at the moment I'm writting this, I still haven't played Samurai Remnant and there's a freaking concert playing loudly next my house when it's already MIDNIGHT! But well, sometimes life has this things that you got to just deal with it.
With that said, onto the chapter!
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
In the middle of the deserted and hostile streets, an hurringly sound from countless steps was being emited, with the Chaldea group running down on the current place they where in alongside the servants.
"Uff..!" Ritsuka breathed shakily as he was feeling tired from the running, his legs never stopping ever since the moment Romani and Jekyll had spotted a new signal on the map, hoping it to be Nala.
"Do you need to rest master?" Mash asked to Ritsuka, hearing his panting from behind.
"N-No. I'm fine. We need to keep going!" Ritsuka answered to the shielder.
Mordred slowed down. "Ya sure you don't? I can carry you if you want it in order to not lose time." The knight offered up. "Being a servant really makes me forget how a normal human doesn't have the same stamina capabilities as us."
"Speak for yourself. I'm getting exhausted from doing nothing else but running." Hans complained. "But you can suppose it's a lot better than to fight with those things again."
"Please don't jinx it!" Peko responded to the writer servant, tired of battling with the creatures and the fatigue that would come alongside it afterwards.
As they runned some more meters, Ritsuka eventually stop and leaned his body against a building's wall, his hand supported on a window. Noticing it, everyone else stopped their leg movement.
"I knew you needed to rest master! Mash exclaimed, approaching him. "You are sweating and everything!"
"You've also been casting an handful amount of spells in a short period." Peko added. "Overusing your mana circuits like that is dangerous Ritsuka!"
"It's...It's alright guys." Ritsuka told them. "Just give me five seconds. I'll be back on-!" In surprise, the window his hand was holding on suddenly opened up, causing Ritsuka to accidentaly lose his balance. "Wooah!"
"Master!"
"Ritsuka!"
Altough stumbling, Ritsuka was able to keep his feet on the ground, preventing himself from falling. "D-Did that window just opened?" He asked, staring torwards the open window and the old person who opened it, sitting next to a desk full of coins in the room behind the window.
"Do I need to put a signal to warn you misfits of not putting your filthy hands in my window?" The old man speaked roughly, launching them a sour glare. His eyes then widdened up in shock as he specifically stared at Peko. "It's you!"
"Huh?" Peko reacted in confusion, wondering why the old man shouted at him.
"Come here you rowdy brat!" The old man said agressively, standing up and streatching his arm out of the window, trying to grab Peko.
"Hey! Keep your hand off him!" Mash exclaimed, putting Peko behind her, denying the old man from grabbbing him.
"You don't understand! That kid is the terriblest delinquent of all delinquents!" The old man told Mash angrily. "He is a menace! He is a-..." Holding down his horses, the old man looked better at Peko, realizing that he wasn't in fact the kid he thought at first.
"He's a what?" Ritsuka asked to the old man, crossing his arms as he gave him a condemning look.
The old man let out a low grunt in response. "Forget it. I was just seeing things."
"At that age it wouldn't surprise me." Mordred commented.
The old man in return gave a stare at the knight before doing the same with everyone else of the group. "Are you from the local circus or something similar?" The old man asked, referring to the group's unique style of clothing and appearence.
"If that was an attempt of calling us clowns, I'll tell you that it was a weak one." Hans replied. "However, I can't blame you as your type of person never struck me as a creative one."
"Thing like creativity and imagination are futile and meaningless. It only distract us from the real bussiness of the world." The old man responded. "It lures young people to forget their responsibilites, transforming them into ignorant brats who only know how to be an headache to others, unable to contribute to the society."
Ritsuka looked at him weirdly. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"I think he's referring to the fact how children in this age would normaly work in factories." Mash answered Ritsuka before looking at the old man. "Which means that according to you, kids aren't allowed to have fun? That their entire childhood should be spent on labor?"
The old man sighed. "I just had this conversation with someone else an hour ago." He mumbled to himself. "If problematic children aren't kept in check and occupied with something meaningful, they end up usually becoming petty thiefs. Little scums of the street. Uniting to form gangs of delinquents just like that rioter boy Oliver Twist."
"What? You know who he is?" Peko asked in surprise after hearing the boy's name from the old man.
"Oh, if I do. That brat is the worst of them all. Always stealing and causing havoc to wherever he goes." The old man started to describe. "When you see a kid with a scarf and beret like the ones lying over there, you better be careful with the coins or any other goods you have in your pockets." He told to the group, pointing to a fallen scarf and beret at the other side of the street to them.
"Oliver Twist wears that?" Mash made another question to the old man.
"Everyone of his spineless group does. They usually tend to hang around factories to recruit always more to their bunch." The old man responded. "The nauseous smell of the chimney's smoke as well as the countless grains of ashes and dust can be easy to idenitfy when one of them is nearby." He snickered then. "Thankfully, all of this fog keeps those scums away, allowing me to finally have some times of tranquility back. That is, until I have people touching on my window."
"A nauseous smell..." Peko thought of the scent's description of the scarf and beret given by the old surly man, eyeing at those very same items lying on the floor. A trademark of Oliver Twist and his pack. Oddly similar to the set he had dressed before in the first hour they had arrived to this Singularity. That's when the pieces all connected inside Peko's brain, letting out a gasp of realization. "It all makes sense now!" The boy went to catch up the two pieces of clothing from the ground, much to everyone's confusion.
"Why are you grabbing that Peko?" Ritsuka asked him.
The old man gave Peko a distasteful look. "Don't tell me you are thinking of becoming one of them. Your life is much better as circus performer that way I assure you child."
"Did one of them pulled out a prank on you to be this pissed?" Mordred questioned the old man. "Kids will be kids, gotta move on from it!"
"Yeah. No offense, but you really have to be bitter to pick up on random kids." Ritsuka added. "Can't just let them be happy?"
The old man snarled at them. "It seems teens are almost as naive as kids. Do you not know? Happiness is but a mere illusion, setting us up for deception."
"What do you mean by that?" Mash replied.
"When young, one thinks everything is simple and radiant, not worrying about the problems surrounding them. A child with wishes, dreams and ambition. Yet, look to the environment around you." The old man instructed them to do. "What child can smile and grow up thinking that this city is a fitting place for a childhood? Sewers and factories everywhere. The clean sky is a rarity around here as well as green spaces. Districts that are composed of the miserable and streets where the poor and rich walk by." The old man got up from his chair once again, putting both his hands on the window gap. "To be an unborn fetus on a river, would be a much better fate than to be born and have a sorrowful childhood in a place like this. They grow and tend to realize, that the imagination they had was only that: a mere fantasy to desguise the rotten reality of this city."
"You're partially right on that but..." Ritsuka responded, giving some credit to the old man's argument altough not agreeing totally with it.
"The quicker you mature, the shallower the harsh truth hits you." The old man told Ritsuka, staring down with some resentment. "That's how one succeeds in this business. Children like Oliver Twist and the lot know and have experienced this,yet try to deny, choosing to learn it the hard way."
"Well, sorry for what I'm about to say, but every word you uttered from your mouth sounded like complete bullcrap!" Hans responded to the old man, surprising him.
"H-Hans?" Peko and the rest were also surprised by the small writer's reply.
"Just because the world is ugly, the kids don't have right to know joy? What a foolish take! Your author must have been drunk when he created you!" Hans continued. "Listen here. Every child, even the most noisy, bratty and stupid ones, deserve to experience moments of happiness in their childhoods. Who cares if they came from snobish rich households or the slums? You can't negate the right of a childhood to a kid. Not even the factories. Even if I admit that writting books to appeal to kids is easier than to adults, it gives them a place to dream and spread their creativity. It is both a refugee and a callout to them about this 'miserable world'. Just because you never had the best of infancies, doesn't mean you have to ruin the ones of those who are having worse than you, you old cheap skinflint!" Hans ended is response with an insult, leaving the old man to internally agonize in slight anger as his face on the outside was shocked and speechless.
Mordred cackled. "Damn, you have to start sharing some of those insults of yours with me."
"Looks like it's always good to have someone like you with us after all." Peko told him.
"Why? Weren't you liking my company?" Hans asked, staring at him with seriousness.
"N-No! I didn't meant that! Y-You got it wrong!" Peko waved his hands in self defense, trying to justify his words to Hans.
"But you said it Hans! That was a good response to shut him up." Ritsuka said to him.
Mash nodded in agreement. "I knew that there was something more in you than being a rude author."
"Hey now, don't come at me with that 'I knew wou were actually sweet and caring' nonsense at me, please." Hans responded to the shielder.
"Ufff, some people are truly stubborn." The old man sighed, rubbing his own forhead as he decided to not force his point of view of the world in the group anymore, accepting defeat. "This is already the second time that someone has the gall to speak up to me today."
"Hm? There was someone else who passed here before earlier?" Peko asked the old man.
"There was. Two girls in fact. Both with white hair." The old man described his previous visitors, gaining a shocking reaction from the group.
"That must have been Nala with Jack!" Ritsuka exclaimed.
"Quick old man!" Mordred rushed torwards the window all of a sudden, scaring the old man. "Tell us this. Were they okay? No blood? Injuries? Something equally as bad?"
Composing himself from the mini heart attack the knight gave him, the old man answered. "They were both alright. Quite friendly even. No sign that anything of ill happened to them."
"Then Nala is still fine." Mash said, a bit relieved.
"But she's with Jack. And we don't know how long Nala will be fine until Jack does something to her. We have to hurry!" Peko replied, still with both the scarf and beret in his grasp.
Ritsuka was of the same opinion. "Say, did you saw where those two went?" He asked to the old man, wanting to know Nala's location as fast as possible to prevent anything of bad from happening.
"Hmm, if I recall, they went torwards some cloth stores a few meters ahead of here and-"
"Fu! Fou!"
"Huh? This sound is..." Mash turned around to find the source of the sudden noise just like everyone else, spotting Fou running torwards them some meters away. "It's Fou!"
"He was with Nala then?" Peko replied as the animal reached them.
"Fu! Fu! Fou fou fu! Fou!"
"Calm down a bit Fou." Ritsuka told the creature. "Talking at that pace will hardly make us understand you."
"But it has to possibly do with that Nala girl, doesn't it?" Hans asked to Fou who nodded in confirmation.
"Fou fu!"
"Damn it! Shortie is in danger then? It's what you're trying to tell us?" Mordred suspected, seeing Fou claim the knight's question as truth.
"Fu fou!" Fou said, waving his paws in the air while jumping.
"Then no time to talk! We need to reach her as fast as possible!" Peko responded, ready to start running again once he heard about his sister current status by Fou.
And with a short passing of a second, the holograms of Romani and Jekyll appeard to them.
"Guys! The weak signal we've detected before has just gotten stronger!" Romani informed them.
"You must be closer to Nala! The location is right on the neighboring district!" Jekyll added, helping Fran get her detached hand back to her arm. "And the signal appears to be inside the building! By the look of the map, it must be of the local asylum from the region if I remember correctly!"
"Thank you both for the information!" Ritsuka said before speaking to the group. "You've heard the location guys! Now let's head to there!"
And now accompained by Fou, the Chaldea group and the two servants runned away from the current place near the old man's building, leaving the man himself perplexed by the hologramic images he just saw, believing to be ghosts as well as the speed from which the group dissapeard from there.
"O-Oi! At least next time have the decency to not put your dirty hands on the glass of my window! I'm sick of cleaning it!"
"Gngnghrr! Ghhgg!" Pushing and struggling hardly against the bindings of the straitjacket, Nala had spent the entire time ever since she was captured in trying to break free from it. "Why is this stupid thing being so hard to take it out?!" Nala bashed her back against the padded wall behind her and with lots of strenght, pulled her arms inside the sleeves, attemtpting to tear it apart. "Gghrrrrrghrr-AAH!" The girl ended up falling to the ground, groaning in pain. "Crap...almost dislocated my shoulder." She said to herself. If there was one thing Nala was sure about this jacket, it's that it was way harder to break free from it than the chain the Dragon Witch had used to tie her arms back in France. The straitjacket was on a whole new lever of difficulty. "Hug-jacket? What a lie! Who was the idiot who had the brilliant idea of creating this thing?"
Nala complained as she wiggled her body torwards a wall and used it to rest, having spent much effort in vain. She look down at her own restrained arms by the garnment's buckles. "And how did I let Jack had the better of me again?! How could I have lost like that? She only was lucky, that's all!" Nala cursed Jack for having defeated her the way the serial killer did, consequentely being the reason Nala was now in this predicament. "I knew I shouldn't have sided with her and still..." Nala moved her torso to the right, then to the left as well as up and down. No matter what direction she would try to move her upper body, the straitjacket remained restrained thightly around her body, resulting in Nala to try brute force again and angrily bash her back against the wall once more when it didn't lead to anything. "Dammit!" Nala yelled out frustrated.
Just outside the padded cell, on the other side of the metal door, the pair of Jane and Artoria Alter watched Nala's senseless struggling through the small hatch.
"See Your Majesty? Well secured, with nowhere to run." Jane told to Artoria Alter. The king however, wasn't very convinced.
"Really? A straitjacket? That's the only thing keeping her down?" Artoria Alter told to the nurse. "If the rumours about her capabilities that I've heard are true, I'm afraid that jacket won't contain her for too long."
Despite the concern, Jane giggled at it. "I was also aware of those details Your Majesty. That's why the straitjacket she's wearing isn't exactly an average one." She explained. "This one was specifically created and modified with the help of Mr. 'P'. We used reinforcement enchantments as well as some magic items to strenghten the straps and tissue of tis jacket during its craft. In other words, this straitjacket's resistance is equivalent to that of ten straitjackets. Your Majesty could even restrain a lower tier servant in it and they would have an hard time breaking free from it." The nurse smiled happily. "All of this thanks to Mr. 'P' expertise and vast knowledge on the magecraft field."
"If you say so." Artoria Alter responded, skeptical of the part about the jacket being able to contain even a lower-tier servant. But Nala wasn't one, so the king could at least rest easy, going back to stare at the restrained girl inside the cell.
"Nnghr! Gghrg!" Nala continued her frenetic struggle before noticing a pair of eyes staring at her from the door. "Ah! H-Hey! Open the door!" Nala yelled, rushing torwards tha padded door, kicking it. "Are you deaf? Let me out of this thing!"
"Addressing other topics, have any mana circuits containers for me? My master's machine is needing more batteries." Artoria Alter asked to Jane, ignoring Nala's shouting from the other side of the door.
"Open the door already dammit!"
"Hehe, of course that there was other motives of your visit here Your Majesty." Jane replied, putting her hands together. "Unfortunately, the mana circuits of the patients I examined this time aren't as powerful as some of the previous ones."
"Oi! What are you talking about?! Release me!"
"No matter. That still should suffice." Artoria Alter replied.
"Jack! Are you there! If you are then take this thing off! It's hurting me!"
"Mmm..." Jack stayed silent much to her sadness, hearing Nala calling her out for help. Artoria Alter and Jane on the other hand continued their talk.
"If that's so then Your Majesty can pick them up in the depot room. I left them there for pickup." Jane told to the dark king.
"Good." Artoria Alter replied. "I'll take that and-"
"Heeeeey! I can hear you! Stop ignoring me!" Nala interrupted their conversation, kicking repeatedly on the door.
"Wait a second if you will." Artoria Alter kindly advised to Jane before throwing an hard punch on the metal door of Nala's cell.
"Gyaaaaah!" Nala screamed as the vibrations from the King of Storms punch passed through the door's material and sent the girl flying to the other end of the padded cell.
"Silence! The adults are speaking!" Artoria Alter rebuked Nala with an imperative tone in her voice before closing the hatch.
"Mphm! Rude asshole..." Nala said as she tried to get up from the floor. Hard thing to do without her arms available.
"What a contemptuous brat." Artoria Alter said. "Hope to not hear all that yelling when taking her to my master."
"True. That girl is quite the uproarious one." Jane replied. "Good thing we restrained her when she was asleep. Also, about the subject of taking her away, I'd like to make a request to you Your Majesty."
Artoria Alter looked at her puzzled. "Hmm? What is it?"
"I was thinking of asking you permission to perform a quick therapy on her before Your Majesty exits the asylum with her." Jane solicited permission from Artoria Alter, sharing what she had in mind for Nala.
"Elaborate." Artoria Alter demanded calmly, wanting to know more about the nurse's deal with Nala.
"It's cause she needs this therapy urgently to remember of her past!" Jack told to the dark king, who stared at the serial killer a bit confused.
"Allow me to rephrase it better Your Majesty." Jane said. "Apparently, Jack discovered that our prisoner may suffer from a severe case of memory lose, having huge problems to remember her own past. Sure that it might be just another case of mental disease...but what if its hiding something from us?"
Artoria Alter heard carefully to the nurse's words, understanding it. "I see. So you have a presentiment that whatever is blocking this girl's memories, you can force her to remember them through being subjected to a therapy."
"Precisely Your Majesty!" Jane said with a normal yet sinister smile. "The asylum always had its ways to deal with such inconveniences after all. Plus, we might get some new information about her and her sibling if we get to retrieve the girl's erased past. I bet Mr. 'M' , your master, would be delightful to know more about the targets."
"You aren't wrong by an means." Artoria Alter smiled back to her. "We could use new found information to our advantage after all. I give you permission to perform her therapy." The King of Storms said before gazing seriously at Jane. "However, be warned that it would be bothersome for me and my master if your therapy ended up damaging her permanentely. Remember, my master wants his targets to be in a presentable condition."
Jane bowed in respect. "I'm aware of that Your Majesty. Be assured that I have no intent of hurting her deeply with my therapy. It will be mild at best."
"Your words are credible in enough to have my trust in it." Artoria Alter responded, satisfied with Jane's response.
"Thank you Your Majesty." Jane said before staring at Jack. "Jackie, take out your friend from the cell. It's time."
"Yes mommy!" Jack obeyed to her mom, heading torwards the door and opening it.
"See this as a good chance as well to take a much closer look at her Your Majesty." Jane propounded to Artoria Alter as both watched Jack taking Nala out from the padded cell, with the restrained girl trying to shake the serial killer off of her.
"Get your hands off me! Now!" Nala shouted, attempting to get away from the serial killer who held her by the jacket straps.
"No need to shout like that." Jake reprimanded her before giving Nala a generous smile. "The therapy will do wonders for you!"
"I don't NEED it and I don't WANT it!" Nala replied back, pissed at Jack.
"Huh, so this is one of the royal twins." Artoria Alter speaked, watching Nala struggle right in front of her before crouching down to look at the girl in the eyes.
"Jack." Jane called the assassin out, signaling her to let go off her grip from Nala, with Artoria Alter approching her hand to grab her.
"And what are yo-hgnhg!?" Nala felt the thight grip of Artoria Alter's hand on her chin, forcing the girl's head to stay in place and stare at the dark king somber and malicious yellow eyes.
"Mhmm. Hehehe, not bad." Artoria Alter chuckled as she analyzed Nala's face from up close, the glare her eyes were giving back to the dark king of Britain. "A soldier like you would be of a great addition to my army." She said, enjoying the defiant stare Nala was giving her.
However, that enjoyment went down as the girl spat right into the dark king's face. "Think again!" Nala replied to Artoria Alter, agressively pulling her chin away from the servant's hand. In some aspects, Artoria Alter reminded Nala of the Dragon Witch, Jeanne Alter. Both seemed cruel and willing to cause destruction. And just like with Jeanne Alter, Nala would show to the King of Storms that she refused to be her personal obedient little soldier.
Artoria Alter just stared at Nala with a bored expression, cleaning the mess on her face with her own thumb. "This is how you play eh?" She said, closing her eyes for a moment. "Fine. I'll show you how I play." Artoria Alter said with tranquility and composure, before slapping Nala in the face, causing the girl to fall to the ground.
"Urgh!" Nala let out a small cry of pain from the strong smack she got of the armoured hand of the dark king, resulting in the bleeding of one of her lips.
"NELLY!" Jack exclaimed, absolutely worried. "A-Are you okay?!" The assassin tried to help Nala to get back on her feet despite the restrained girl's weak refusal. "Hey. Try hurting our friend again and we won't contain ourselves next time." Jack threatened Artoria Alter, with a cold and antipathetic glare, not approving of her friend being hurt.
"As if I want to be a friend of someone like you..." Nala said to herself as she tried to get up, recovering from the slap.
"My pardons Your Majesty. It seems this girl never got a proper education." Jane apologized on behalf of Nala's behaviour.
"I'd say 'obedience' is more of the fitting word here." Artoria Alter responded to Jane before looking down at Nala. "Also, it isn't my first time putting bratty girls in their rightful place." She spoked, receiving an agressive glare from Nala. "And speaking of targets, what about the other one?"
"Oh, the boy?" Jane replied to the dark king. "Probably with his group as of right now. I also have another straitjacket reserved for him when he gets captured."
"YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" Nala yelled out angrily torwards the two women, being held back by the jacket's straps and Jack herself. "You do anything, but anything to him and I swear I'll beat your damn faces into a pulp!" She said, a look of a raging animal staring at her enemies. And that wasn't exclusive for only Peko. Harming Ritsuka or Mash as well and Nala would do the same.
"P-Please! Calm down!" Jack pleaded behind Nala, trying to hold her from lashing torwards Artoria Alter and Jane.
The dark king ended up giggling torwards Nala. "Such big words for someone so small." She simply commented.
"And so overly violent as well. Befitting for the straitjacket you're wearing." Jane added, amused at Nala's restrained anger.
"But thinking more about it, the boy will most surely come here with the rest of them to rescue his sister." Artoria Alter said, considering that having Nala in their grasp would attract Peko and the rest of Chaldea and allies.
"That sounds the most likely." Jane responded before staring at Jack. "Jack my dear, where was the last time you've seen your other friend?"
"It was when me and Nelly did a chase game. I think Oliver and his friends got left behind after that."
"Then they're definetly coming." Artoria Alter crossed her arms. "I'll take care of those insurgents and bring the boy here inside. In the meantime you and assassin make sure that the girl's therapy occurs without problems."
"Best of luck Your Majesty." Jane wished as Artoria Alter started to walk away.
"Appreciate your support." The King of Storms replied before smirking at the nurse. "But only the weak would need of such thing as luck in a battle."
"Understood Your Majesty." Jane replied, with Artoria Alter having walked out from her view. The nurse then stared with a calm and serene smile to Nala and Jack. "Well now, let's go to the therapy room. Make sure our patient comes along Jack."
"Yes mommy!" Jack responded, grabbing Nala by the shoulders despite the struggle. "By the time the therapy is done, Oliver will be here to play with us!" She said happily to Nala, who didn't shared the same feeling as she was dragged on by the serial killer.
"I already told you I'm not doing any therapy! Just take this thing off me now! "Nala protests and yelling fell to the deaf ears of the serial killer as she continued walking alongside Jane. "You're making a huge mistake Jack! Release me already!"
"Fou fou!"
"Fou is pointing at something!" Peko exclaimed, noticing the animal's movement with his head.
"It must be something ahead!" Ritsuka responded, watching Fou guide them to the place where Nala was located.
"There!" Mash stopped running just like the rest as they laid their eyes to a big building in front of them.
"That's the asylum on the map!" Jekyll told the group. "And the signal is still in the same place, so Nala is surely inside it!"
"Go inside and look for her!" Romani told the group. "She might be fighting enemies inside the building!"
"Didn't even needed to tell us! Let's go!" Mordred replied, about to rush torwards the asylum's entry gates.
As the rest would do the same, Peko felt a presence all of a sudden. "Wait! Don't-"
"Not so fast."
From above, a giant thunder fell from the sky, heading torwards Mordred.
"Ghg!" The knight reacted in time to swing her blade torwards the lightning, the metal of her weapon creating sparks with the metal of another weapon inside the giant thunder. Mordred immediatly recognized the lance looking weapon. "That's...!"
The electric attack ended up being cancelled, with Mordred stepping back from the lance who pierced its sharp point on the ground. A stripped black and white lance, with red crystal thorns coming out of it. As the few remains of thunder died out from the lance, a figure approached it and grabbed the weapon. "Crude and thick skulled as always. What was going on my mind when I entitled you as one of my knights?" Artoria Alter said, looking right into Mordred's eyes. "Let alone creating you."
Mordred in return gave an hostile glare to the king as her lips contorced in anger. "You again!" Mordred said with a burning hate in her voice, the figure of the dark king seemingly provoking her. However, the knight quickly changed her increasing anger for a big contemptous grin. "No. Actually, this is good. Very good!" She exclaimed in pure joy, laughing and thigtening the grip of the hilt. "I'll make sure to behead you this time shithead!"
"How lovely." Artoria Alter simply said with sarcasm.
In the back, Ritsuka thought he had seen that face of Artoria Alter somehwere already. "Perhaps I'm just imagining things but, haven't we seen that woman's face before?"
"I got the same feeling too." Peko replied. "Altough I can't recall when." The boy scratched his head, trying to remember.
Mash's memory thankfully got it fast. "That saber from Fuyuki! It has an identical face to hers!"
Ritsuka snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's who I was thinking about!"
"Hmm, she does resemble that saber altough looking a bit older." Romani observed. "This must be an alternative version of her. What was her name exactly?"
"Artoria Pendragon? Something like that." Peko speaked.
"Exactly! The saber we faced was the mythical king Arthur Pendragon!" Romani replied.
"So this explains why for the animosity I'm feeling here." Hans commented.
Ritsuka realized what the author meant by that. "Then Mordred is fighting her..."
"Her own father." Mash concluded the sentence.
"Mmh! Time to die bastard!" Mordred yelled, jumping torwards Artoria Alter who clashed her lance with her son's red lightning sword. "Your 'reign' ends here moron!"
"You wish." Artoria Alter responded normally, unbothered by her child's words. "I have better things to do than waste time with an aberration." The King of Storms pushed Mordred away, with the young knight charging torwards her father again, going for another hit, failling it as Artoria Alter parried it and kicked Mordred to the side.
"Kkrgh!" Mordred's body rolled on the ground due to the kick she received before stopping. "Damn you!" She punched the ground agressively, quickly getting up to continue fighting.
Artoria Alter took a fast glance at the rest of her son's allies, seeing they were about to join the fight as well. "Oh, so you are the other twin." The dark king eyed to Peko. "Refrain yourself from fighting and wasting energy child. Come with me instead if you wish to be reunited with your sister."
"Don't play with me! Where's Nala?" Peko questioned, not accepting Artoria Alter's offer and demanding to know of her sister's exact location inside of the building.
"And what are you planning to do with her and Peko?" Ritsuka made another question to the dark king who just chuckled.
"Nothing that concerns you peasent. As for your sister's location boy, she is at the moment being taken care of under the caring gaze of one of my colleagues. Worry not, for you shall join her very soon."
"You..." Peko stared at Artoria Alter, closing his hand into a fist. His concern for Nala had become bigger.
"We will defeat you and rescue our friend instead!" Mash talked to Artoria Alter, who looked back at the shielder.
"Says who?" The dark king asked with little to no intrest, before her sight viewed the shield Mash was holding, picking up the absolute curiosity of Artoria Alter. "What a fun coincidence." She said, smilling scarely torwards Mash.
"Huh? Wh-what's a coincidence?" Mash questioned, putting her shield in defense, confused of what Artoria Alter was talking about as the King of Storms stretched an arm torwards her.
"That shield. Give it back to me."
"Let me go! How many times I'll have to tell you dammit!" Nala was still struggling as Jane and Jack and now reached to the operation room and forcefully strapped Nala to an exam table, from head to feet. The girl tried to fight back but at this point was almost impossible and senseless. However, Nala prevailed on being stubborn. "Free me you assholes! Or else when I break these things you'll-hmphm!?"
Having enough of Nala's shouting and also because it was part of the therapy, Jane shoved a piece of cloth inside Nala's mouth and tied to the back of her head, silencing her. "There we go. Much better." Jane smiled happily.
"Mpghmphm! (That's it! I won't be holding back when I get out of this stupid restraints! Just you wait!)" Nala shouted at Jane, altough her speech came out muffled now.
"Hey Nelly! Nelly! Look here!" Jack called Nala's attention, standing by the side of the table, happily showing her two scalps she was holding in each hand before lowering her own body down and start a little play with the scalps on the table.
"Hi patient, how are you today?" Jack created a voice for one of the scalps, moving her left hand.
"A bit scared doctor. I'm not sure if I want to do the therapy..." The serial killer gave a voice to the other scalpel.
"Don't worry. The therapy will be quick and painless."
"Hmm, are you sure?"
"I'm a hundread percent sure Mr. Patient. After that, we can share some candies and everything!"
"Wow Doctor! Thank you! You really are the best! I'm feeling a lot better now!"
"Then let's do this therapy!"
Jack giggled the moment she finished her play, smiling to Nala. "See? The scalpel lost his fear of the therapy. And so will you." Jane smiled amused at her own daughter's play as she was checking out a machine with levers buttons and cables on the room.
Nala ended up rolling her own eyes. "Mhphmm...(Awww, that's nice. Mind switching positions then?)"
"Jackie, do you mind going to check some few things over there for me?" Jane requested to Jack who happily did so, leaving the nurse to have an alone time with Nala. "Ah, she's such a precious girl. Couldn't ask for a better helper." She giggled, putting two soft cottons on each side of Nala's forhead. Both were connected to a metal piece who had a cable exit from one end and connect it to the machine.
"Mmphm mpgmhhm! (Oi oi oi! What the hell are these for? What are you planning here?!)" Nala struggled a bit against the straps as she wondered what sick therapy was this that the nurse had in mind.
The nurse grabbed a small glass bottle from her pocket which contained some liquid, showing it to Nala. "Say, do you know what morphine and atropine are?"
"Hmm? (What are you talking about?)" Nala replied confused.
"You see, they are both pharmaceuticals that are mostly used as medication for patients. That is, if you use it moderatly." Jane said, looking at the flask with a sadistic smile. "If overused, these substances can be lethal toxins, like poison slowly destroying your insides. I always got a peck of curiosity to know what the effects could be if used in excessiveness during my first years as a nurse." Jane continued talking as she started blushing. "The patients at the hospital always were good guinea pigs." She bite the tip of her thumb. "I would alterate the dosage and watch the way they would squirm helplessly and..." Jane stopped herself before she could go further down in her own arousal. "Sorry. Got a bit carried away over there hehehe."
Nala just stared at the nurse with pure disgust and shock. "This woman is sick in the head."
"Either way, you understand what I meant. Watching the poor feeble patients writhe in pain was absolutely entertainment to me, as well as giving me some intresting results." Jane continued. "But here in the asylum it's even better! I can be as rough as I want with the patients that no one from the staff will care because they are just a bunch of delusional lunatics!" The nurse exclaimed, going back to remember of her 'good' moments with the patients in the asylum. "But if you want to know why the asylum looks so empty and devoid of patients, well, me and Jack have a bad habit of doing a little extreme fun with them." She chuckled, looking to the side. "And better the fact no one other nurse is here to stop us, makes things so much nicer."
"Mphmgphm! (I knew it! You're a freaking psycopath!)" Nala shouted back, altough her words weren't really perceptible to Jane.
"Hmm? You're wondering what we did to dispose of our patients?" Jane said, thinking that was what Nala was trying to say. She smiled and gave a side eye to Jack on the left. "Let's just say that Jackie is a good cleaner." Jane said with a creepy smile.
The implication and thought of what that could mean, made Nala's eyes widden in absolute terror as she felt the need to puke from the inside of her body. How insane someone needed to be to do that. "Y-You...You are a fucking monsters!" Nala gained new energy to struggle wildly, not wanting to spend another second near these two.
"Hehehe, easy there little one. We're not doing the same to you here." Jane told her.
"Hm?" Nala stopped, looking at the nurse, wondering what they would do to her instead.
"As much as I wished to experiment on you with the morphine and atropine, unfortunately I have orders to not do it." Jane said with a dissapointed face, waving the flask. "I bet the dosage and the reactions from you would be different than those of a normal patient. After all, you must be special indeed. Truly, what a shame." Jane tried to headpat Nala. "You could have been my little lab rat."
"Mphmphg! (Don't even think about it bitch!)" Nala reacted angry, denying the nurse's hand from headpatting her, making Jane giggled in return.
"But who knows? If you outlive your usefullness to my superiors perhaps I can have you in the end, and who knows, adopt you as my second daughter." Jane chuckled, liking of the idea. Also, you might think of my actions as of an insane madwoman but, are you truly insane if you are aware of what you're doing?" The nurse asked Nala with a malicious smile. "Plus, the elderly and disabled are just occupying space in the world. No one misses them if they go away. So, deep down I'm actually doing a favour." She explained her actions to Nala, not that she herself think those would serve as good justifications for her actions.
"Mphphmmph! (That still doesn't change the fact that you are a deranged person!)" Nala replied.
"Everything is done and ready to go mommy!" Jack went next to Jane's side, telling her that the final touches for the therapy were ready.
"Nice to hear it dear." Jane clapped her hands together. "Now stay by your friend's side as I pull down the lever." Jane instructed the serial killer before looking back at Nala. "Better be ready for the shocks. It can hurt a bit." She then walked torwards the machine.
"Mphm? (Shocks? What shocks?)" Nala wondered to herself confused, trying to figure out why the nurse said that. Then she thought about the machine, the lever in it, the cables coming out of it and connected to the metal tool where two cottons were now touching each side of her forhead. That's when Nala's brain understood in terror what was about to come. "MPGHPPMHPMHMMM!"
Seeing her friend thrashing violently and in panic against the restraints, Jack tried her best to pacify Nala. "Calm down! We're here! It will all be fine!"
"MMHMPGHMMMPHMM! (SHUT UP AND HELP ME INSTEAD! THIS ISN'T THERAPY! IT'S TORTURE!)" Nala continued her desperate struggle, ignoring Jack pleads and voice.
The serial killer knew at that point that it would be impossible to calm down her friend. "Mommy quick! She's losing control of herself!" Jack shouted worringly to Jane who was already next to the machine, about to pull down the lever.
"Okay! On three! One, Two,..." And with a swift movement, the nurse pulled down the lever, freeing a high voltage discharge.
"MMMM-!
.
.
.
Skies of Arcadia OST- Main Theme
A big flash of thunder roared outside as a brewing storm was approaching, with a girl watching the rain drops fall intensely from the other side of the giant window.
"Oh, looks like a storm is about to come out." A male figure approached the girl from behind. "Are you scared of it Nala?"
"You joking? Some loud lightning bolts ain't scaring me dad!" Nala stared to the man, showing him a brave smile.
"Ahahahaha! Of course you aren't. Nothing scares you after all...aside from eating a vegetable." The man said lowly.
"H-Hey! I swear I always eat one per day at least!" Nala responded to her dad.
"If you say so." Her dad said happily before turning around to stare at two beds in the center of the room. "What about you Peko? Does the thunders scare you?"
From beneath one of the beds sheet, a boy shyly came out of it, trembling profoundly. "N-N-N-N-N-N-Not at all! S-S-S-S-Storms never scared me!"
Nala cackled, containing a laughter. "Pff, what a bad liar. The storm won't go away faster if you be a coward and hide from it."
"I-I-I'm not a coward! It's just...my eyes can't stand huge flashes." Peko told to his sister, trying to deny his fear of thunder.
"Sheesh, you are really hopeless." Nala sighed, shaking her head. "You'll never become what you want if you keep it like that."
"Admitting to be afraid of something isn't a flaw you think it is Nala." The dad told her. "If anything, it takes some courage to admit it."
"Really?" Nala rised an eyebrow to her dad.
"S-See? Dad agrees with me." Peko replied with a smile.
"However, as much as acknowledging a flaw isn't wrong in itself, never outgrowing out of it is. Which is why you'll have to overcome these things eventually Peko. One can't be afraid of something forever." The dad said to his son, who looked down in a bit of self-shame.
"I see..." Peko simply said.
"Eh! Guess I was the one who's right in the end." Nala smugged at her sibling, before sensing her dad's hand in the top of her hand.
"C'mon now Nala. Don't be like that with your brother. Some people just have a slower time learning and getting used to things than others. Which is why I need you to make sure to fulfill this request of mine." The dad cowered down, staring at Nala. "Until Peko learns how to defend and take care of himself, will you always be there to protect him?"
"Ah? O-Of course I will! You didn't even needed to make a question like that." Nala responded. "Besides, finding a replacement for someone like him would be difficult." Nala smiled clumsly.
"I heard that!" Peko said from his bed.
"Then I entrust his safety to you." The dad said to her, proceeding to call for Peko. "Also, come here too Peko."
Initially not wanting to leave the comfort and safe zone of his blankets, Peko ended up heading torwards his dad. "W-what is it?"
"Nala may be strong, but she won't be able to take care of everything. Make sure she can also rely on you as you rely on her. Become strong, not only for your own sake, but also for your sister's."
"S-Sure! I-I'll do my best dad!" Peko responded to his dad who smile joyfully.
"Good. You understand what being a sibling is all about. I think the future of our land will be safe in both your hands. But most importantly, you learned the most essential thing of our family. What makes us." The dad said, in that moment, a giant thunder falling next to the window, illuminating the entire room with a pure white flash as Nala and Peko both stared at their father's face.
The face of a handsome young adult man with black eyes as equal as Peko's and a white spiky hair to the left. That was the appearence of their father. "You understood what being a Finsternis is all about."
.
.
.
"Mmmghrmmmmphmmm!"
Through sheer will power, Nala started fighting back against the volts that tried to electrify her brain, pushing her own body against the straps as well as trying to tear the straitjacket apart. The straps got stretch to their maximum, trying to pin down the girl to the table. "Mmmgrrhmhgrrmm!"
Altough Jack watched in amazement to Nala's intense efforts, Jane was beggining to get worried seeing the girl resisting to the shock therapy. "H-How can she fight back with all that strenght still?" A drop of sweat fell from the nurse's face as she looked to the side and saw the electrometers on the machine going haywire, the indicator of the volt percentage losing control and breaking up. "W-What?! This can't be!" Jane said in bewilderment. "The machine is-hrgh!" She immediatly stepped away from the machine that was now leaking and in process of destruction.
The lightbulb on the ceilling begun to flicker in and out with Nala putting as much strenght as she could to break free from her restraints. "Hpmhmmmpghmm!" Not stopping from a single moment, the table straps were now ripping apart one after the other, unable to contain Nala from much longer. The lightening and electricity on the room was in pure chaos, with Jack still fascinated by her friend's strenght.
"Wow!" The serial killer exclaimed in awe as Jane was on the background, desperatly trying to turn the machine off after Nala seemed to have overpower it.
"Come on! Shut down already dammit!" The nurse pulled the lever up and down but it wasn't working as well as the buttons. She had lost complete control of the situation. "I-I knew it! That girl couldn't be normal!" Jane gazed in absolute panic and horror to Nala getting freer from the table straps by the second, the monstrous raw strenght and will of hers scaring the nurse. "How does she get all that strenght from? How rare can her mana circuits and crest be? What even is she?" With a hundred questions riddling Jane's mind, Nala broke free of another strap, this one flying torwards the nurse and hitting her with the metal buckle in the forhead, knocking her out. "Hurgh...!"
Jack didn't paid attention to that at the moment, distracted by Nala tearing the last strap that was holding her down to the table and slowly tattering the straitjacket's material as well, with the electric charges becoming wilder than ever before.
"Ggggggggrghhhhhgggghh!" Using every last drop of her strenght, Nala felt the straps of the jacket and the tissue breaking up, feeling her arms getting more space to move. The machine eventually reached it's limit, about to explode alongside the lightbulb from the ceiling that shinned intensely bright. "Ggrrrrrrrrghrrrrrrrrrggrr!" The sleeves of the straitjacket tremble, with the tissue and straps no longer capable of holding down the wild might of the girl.
"GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
BOOM!
"Huh?! What was that?" Ritsuka exclaimed alarmed as their fight with Artoria Alter stopped briefly so everyone could look at the huge explosion that came from the building.
"S-Something exploded in the building!" Peko replied.
"Could have been something to do with Nala?" Mash pondered, wondering what set the explosion off.
Artoria Alter didn't liked what she saw. "What the hell happened in there Toppan?"
Coughing in the middle of the smoke and rubble, Nala waved her now free hands to clear the dust in front of her. "Finally...getting rid of this thing." She said, having taken out the ragged straitjacket from her body and disposing of it on the ground. She took the chance to stretch her arms and body as well since she had spent some good minutes restrained. "Good thing I'm free now. My arms were starting to get sore."
Having some time to recollect herself, she thought back about the memory she had during the therapy. "His face...It looked a lot similar to Peko. And that name." Nala stared at her own hand. "Finsternis. Our family name." She lowered her arm, looking to the outside sky from the hole the explosion caused on the asylum. "Then, that man's face. It...Was it really the face of our dad?"
"Nelly!" Breaking Nala's train of thought, Jack appeard out of nowhere, hugging the girl from behind effusively, catching her by surprise. "You were amazing! Like, we didn't expected the therapy to have gone that way but still, you were incredible breaking free from all that!" Jack laughed before making a question to Nala. "So, did it help you remember anything?"
Even if she hated to say it, it was impossible for Nala to deny that the effects of the therapy had some sort of influence in making her remember of her father's face. "Yes, I did." She responded, not exactly happy to admit it.
Jack on the other hand hugged her even more cheerfully. "Ahahaha, see? We told you it would help! Now you've got to know more about yourself!"
Nala nodded in return. "Yes. Thank you for that Jack...now get the hell away from me you freak!" Nala shouted all of a sudden, pushing Jack away from her, much to the serial killer's confusion.
"Hum? Why are you saying it like that? Didn't we helped you remember your past?" She asked, not seeing why for Nala's attitude torwards her.
"You and your mother tried to FRY MY BRAIN!" Nala yelled out.
"B-But it helped you didn't it? Plus, it wouldn't come to that point." Jack responded, looking to the side.
"Because I fought back! You two are both monsters!" Nala replied back.
"Why?! We and mommy only have fun playing games!" Jack responded, disliking how Nala was now adressing her and her mom.
"Yeah yeah. 'Games'. Keep believing in whatever lie that wicked woman tells you!" Nala said, still with the words Jane told her inside the girl's head.
"Don't talk about our mom like that!" Jack shouted, starting to lose her patience.
"She isn't your mom! Just a psycho that uses you for her own benefits!" Nala shouted back, telling the harsh truth that Jack didn't want to hear.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! We're not hearing you! You're jealous!" Jack accused Nala. "Jealous that we have a mom to love us and you don't!"
"I'd rather stay motherless or die than being daughter of that madwoman!" Nala responded, triggering an anger in the assassin.
"Take back what you said. Immediatly." Jack said coldly, staring madly at Nala as she took a pair of her knives from her pocket. "Take back what you said about our mom!"
"I won't!" Nala drawn out her sword as Jack quickly rushed torwards her, clashing her knives with huge strenght against Nala, throwing herself and her enemy out of the building, landing just in front of the entrance gates.
"Take those words back!" Jack lost her cool, trying to attack Nala on the head with her knife, with Nala ending up dodging it and kicking Jack out from the top of her.
"I'm saying the truth here! Accept it already!" Nala replied to Jack who was about to go for another blow on the girl.
"You-Ghg!" Jack retreated back as a light bullet hit one of her knives, denying her chance of attack.
"Nala! You alright?" Peko asked his sister, coming for her aid.
"You can say I'm happy to see you all again. Jack is a bit of a weird person to hang around with. " Nala said, grateful for being back to her group.
"Nothing hurt?" Ritsuka asked her, approaching the two siblings.
"Neither externally nor internally." Nala responded to him.
"Tsk. Looks like we ended up still understimating this girl." Artoria Alter was displeased, seeing how Nala was able to get out even with all those restraints holding her down. Guess they really needed to have more precaution with her. But now that the siblings were together, the dark king saw it as an opportunity to capture them both and take them to her master. But Mordred stopped her from advancing torwards the twins by attacking Artoria Alter from behind, the King of Storms having to block it.
"Hey! I'm your opponent here dipshit! Or are you scared of being a proper parent and face your own son?" Mordred said, gaining Arotria Alter's full attention.
"Very well. I'll make sure to shut you up once and for all." The dark king responded, almost piercing Mordred with her lance, the knight being saved by Mash's quick intervention.
"You'll have to fight me too!" Mash exclaimed, staring to Mordred. "Two are better than one, right?"
"This was supposed to be my personal fight." Mordred said a bit dissapointed. "But it wouldn't be out of place for you to join this fight."
"So allow me to be the support here." Hans said, stepping alongside the two.
"Weren't you already that?" Mordred asked him.
"And are you seriously making questions during a fight?" Hans asked back.
"The child has a point." Artoria Alter speaked, preparing her lance for another attack. "No point in talking now."
"How many times do I have to say I'm not a child goddamit!" Hans said annoyed.
A few meters away from them, Nala was about to face Jack, now alongside Peko and support from Ritsuka.
"Ah! Oliver! Good to see you!" Jack said, happy in seeing her best and longest friend to date again. "We'd love to play with you but right now we're in the middle of a problem." The serial killer stared unhappily at Nala. "You're sister is being a meanie to us, saying bad stuff about our mom. Could you please tell her to stop with it?"
Nala also had enough of seeing Jack mistaking her brother for someone else. "When are you going to real-"
"It's okay Nala. You don't have to say it." Peko said, putting an hand on her shoulder.
"Hm? Peko?" Nala stared at her brother, puzzled. Before advancing torwards Jack, Peko took a look at Ritsuka, expecting to hear him say something. The boy wasn't sure if he could do this, but he had to.
"You can't disguise it for longer. Better tell her now." Ritsuka told him, looking back at the boy.
Peko nodded. "Understood."
"Hm? What's wrong Oliver?" Jack asked to Peko,noticing the small traces of sadness in his face. "Are you feeling sick? We can get you a-"
"No. It isn't that." Peko interrupted Jack, taking a deep breath before telling another hard truth that the serial killer needed to hear. "Sorry to tell you this, and you probably won't believe it but...I'm not Oliver."
As expected, Jack initially seemed to ignore and deny it, looking weirdly at Peko. "What nonsense are you saying Oliver? If that was a joke, it wasn't funny. You told better jokes before."
"There's no joke Jack. I'm saying the truth. I'm not the friend you know as Oliver Twist." Peko insisted. "I'm someone else entirely."
"B-But...your scent..." Jack kept avoiding the realization of the truth, with Peko handing her a dusty beret and scarf.
"This was the reason for it. What you smelled was the scent of these clothes that have probably reminded you of Oliver. Not my own scent." Peko told her.
Testing if what Peko was teeling her was true, Jack approached her nose to both the beret and scarf, smelling it, before also sensing Peko's own scent and then...
"No...No. No. No." Gasping, Jack took some steps back in state of deep shock, falling to her knees.
"Sorry. I was never Oliver." Peko told her, now with the serial killer completely aware of the mistake she had made all this time.
"Oliver..." Jack's breathing became nervous and unstable, with the assassin putting her hands in front of her face, her eye pupils shaking and mind slowly becoming a turmoil from the painful revelation. "Oliver...was never here?"
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 60!
And so, a little more information about Nala and Peko's life gets revealed such as their family name and their dad's face. Now, as far as I know, it's impossible to post images in a chapter on this site. (And I can't draw for shit) So, if you want to have kinda of a visual idea of how their dad looks like, just imagine Peko but older as a yound adult and larger white hair. That's how he looks like. I mean, crazy was if he didn't looked nothing at all with his children. That's how genetics works. So there you go, Peko and Nala's face reveal. His name? It will still be a little more time inside the archives.
Jack at the end there is also about to snap. Poor kid. And oh boy if I will enjoy writting some family interactions between Mordred and Lalter. As you can see, a very good father and son relationship between them that will be rewarded with more bonding time next chapter. And once again, Jane Toppan...crazy insane madwoman, but hey, if your type is psycothic women then she's definetly a waifu material for you.
But that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 61! Peace!
P.S:
Jalter (walking torwards her bedroom while looking at a flyer in her hand promoting the creation of her own rock girl band): Posting all of this crap around Chaldea to only have one volunteer for the audition. And I bet that one person was that stupid saint me, trying to make me feel better.
Jalter (opens her bedroom door): Anyways, better prepare the room for the audi- (Sees Nala in her room, sitting on the drums)
Nala: Finally! Was wondering when you would appear!
Jalter (shocked): W-What a-?! YOU are the volunteer who wants to be part of my rock band?! Do you even know how to play drums?
Nala: Of course! Just beat these objects very hard with the sticks and then break the entire instrument at the end of the concerts, right?
Jalter: First, it's the electric guitar that gets destroyed at the end of a concert. Second, we are not doing that on my band because the instruments are expensive as hell.
Nala:...Oh. Then I resign.
Jalter: Don't know if I should feel either glad or sad about it.