Fate: A Volcanic Summer With Alter

by AGeekyWriter

There was a lot Ritsuka had experienced over the last few years trying to save the world. But times to relax were few and far between. In between writing a manuscript with Jeanne Alter's scrapped Doujin ideas, helping her to win the ServFest contest, and BB certainly being a source for more problems, he was starting to worry once again if there would be any time to relax.

5. Fight With Alter I

AN: Well, first things first, and explanation is owed. When I had the first five pages to this chapter all those months ago when I finally published the plotting chapter, I was in the middle of school. The university likewise increased my workload pretty much right up until the end of its semester. Which meant that most of my writing time was directly devoted to my own book series I'm working on. (Publishing is to start soon!). I'm also in the middle of job searching quite a lot, even if I want to write full time, there is no guaranteed way of making a living off of it. So for now life's just been kicking my ass one way up to the other.

A little more on the story without spoilers, uh? I had an idea of where I wanted to take this chapter, which unfortunately it got scratched halfway through pretty much. And this was originally going to be like three times longer in order to keep it all under the same heading "Fighting with Alter." However, I realized that for those of you who are excited about this story and want more, it would've been an easy couple more months of waiting. So I've decided to break this up into possibly? three parts? So this is what's finished so far.

I would also like to say that this would've been delayed another week had I not chosen to sacrifice all the other things I wanted/need to do in order to edit, and re-work this. I'm the sole writer and editor and while that's great sometimes, the drag is it really does take forever and a half to even get a finished story out.

I truly hope it was worth the wait, and as of yesterday uh? 6/17/2021, I have started writing the next part. If I could finish this part before the re-hash of the summer event, I'd feel delighted, but you know...life hectic. SO as always please enjoy the next installment, comments of love is appreciated just as much as criticism, as both are an equally driving force in my writing.

(slight spoilers: PS Be on the lookout for my totally stolen fight move from Netflix's Castlevania.)

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It was an interesting feeling to have even the tiniest inklings of hope that they could win. Every attempt thus far had felt like desperate attempts. Doujins that were just attempted because something needed to be attempted. They'd worked hard on each one of course, but nothing had felt as fulfilling as the last. Now, for the first time since they'd arrived, they'd felt something other than dread.

They felt hope.

For Alter, it had felt therapeutic to work on something that had been a bit closer to her heart. Her pursuit of Shakespeare to get some of her pent-up feelings out had also warmed her considerably. To the point where she'd even felt just a little more open with her master. Not bothering to hide some of her lingering glances anymore. (Though she still hid most of them, especially when they'd been hard at work the following two days until Servfest.)

With the way the sales had been going for them throughout the day, the doujin would be sold out completely this time. And it was far exceeding everyone's expectations in terms of sales.

Ritsuka had watched Alter's small smile from behind the booth as they sat practically shoulder to shoulder the entire day. Only getting up to make their rounds together with interlocked arms to purchase and read the other doujins that had been made. They realized of course that none of the doujins were going to stay with them when the loop reset. So they worked the Servfest in sections. Buying two or three at a time to read the rest of the loop away until it restarted. Only this time, they hoped there wouldn't be a reset. So Alter wanted to jump around and get the ones she well and truly wanted to read.

Alter leaned into him, like a quick bump of her head forehead against his chest. It reminded him of a little cat that was vying for attention.

But it had worked, he blinked a couple of times. There was a thought that had cropped into his head, an idea of finding somewhere private to talk with her, perhaps the very same spot they'd plotted their non-confession scene. An idea where they'd gotten really close-

She pouted at him, standing on the tips of her toes, and bumped her head into him again.

This time the blush on his cheeks was far more than he'd wished it was. "Sorry, I was growing distant again wasn't I?" He held out his arm for her.

She smiled with her tongue sticking out again and interlaced their arms to drag him along. Either enjoying the effect she was having on him, or completely oblivious to what he'd unwittingly put himself through. "Come on, I want to see what Anderson wrote for Sherlock." She tugged them through servants and other blank attendees to the festival.

He chuckled a little, his flush dying down finally after a moment. He let himself be dragged along. "Even if there is a risk we'll run into Shakespeare?"

Her grip on his arm tightened. "Especially if there is a chance we can see Shakespeare." She stopped tugging him along so they could instep.

"Mr. P has security. You know that." He raised an eyebrow at her. He huffed another chuckle at the memory of how they'd discovered that he'd had security. "Best to wait till the festival is over before you harass anyone."

"Tch." She tilted her head away from him. "I can be discreet." Now that he'd caught up to fall in step with her, she intertwined their arms. "Besides, I don't actually want to do anything to him unless he says the wrong things." A more sadistic grin touched her lips. "I just want to scare him a little."

Rtisuka shook his head. "It's Shakespeare, him saying the wrong thing to you is probably a guarantee…Just don't cause too much trouble alright Alter?" He then gestured to her. "We still don't know what's causing your dizzy spells."

If Alter had a clever retort, it died on her lips as she realized her Master's concern. She looked away with a blush. "I-I'm sure it's nothing. I haven't had a problem all day today."

You know that's not going to work.

His eyes narrowed towards her.

She avoided his gaze.

Ritsuka's voice went dry because the reason was obvious to both of them. "It hasn't been a problem all day today, because you have spent most of the day resting in a chair next to me." His grip tightened on her fingers. "Until we know what's causing it, I don't want you to exert yourself needlessly. Even for scaring the daylights out of Shakespeare."

"F-fine." She said, turning away with a feigned pout of indignation. "I don't have to like it."

He chuckled. "I would never expect you to." Then a and uge touched his heart, where he wanted to kiss her again. His lip twitched at the thought, and his smile faded.

There were only two ways he could picture it ending up if he did. Either she would yell at him for surprising her, getting all flustered and indignant, perhaps even angry about it. Or it would be all of that, except she would actually be angry at him, for assuming too much. The urge to kiss her faded.

She tilted her head as she returned his gaze. He could see the thoughts behind her eyes, and he was unsure of what they were.

Even though the urge to kiss her had left, his smile remained, and he took a deep breath as if he were coming to his senses. With their fingers intertwined he turned his full attention to the festival buzzing around them.

It was late afternoon now, and estimating the timetable they had left, Rtisuka estimated they still had about two hours before Servfest was near its end for the day for this loop. (and he dared to hope, perhaps the last end it would get for this year). So the crowd had thinned somewhat since the start of the con, as parties of people had come and gone. However, that crowd still hugged the most popular of all the booths present at the con, lingering as a clear indicator of which Doujins people still needed to acquire for themselves, or merchandise.

Once again, Medb's was always crowded, as she lined up to do photoshoots with her fans. She of course had also stripped down to her two-piece swimsuit doing poses and modeling to get her booth the constant attention she wanted. Some familiar faces had gotten into line, as they always did. Some were servants, others were of people who were walking around the fake Hawaii as locals or replicants of them.

Alter's mouth started to twist.

Ritsuka could feel the tension, so he made a quick momentary decision to cut down a different aisle of the con. However, once he steered them down a different way he quickly realized his mistake far too late.

Fuck.

The aisle was the H-Doujinsi aisle. The 18+ manga aisle. The hentai aisle. The worst thing about the con was arguably the best thing about the con. All the works done to fill that particular need were all segregated together. The problems as, Ritsuka had no idea where it was, nor did he ever plan to find out where any of them were.

I should've expected that Medb would set up somewhere close to there though.

Ritsuka would've smacked himself in the forehead. If Alter wasn't already taking care of it for him. She reached up and flicked him really hard in the head. Enough that she'd accidentally let some of her servant strength seep through, and he stumbled back a few steps before she reached out and pulled him close again.

Alter glared at him, as they both had a rising blush.

Yeah, okay I deserved that one.

Others started to stare at them, most of them were unrecognizable faces, the replicants from the recreation. Strangely enough, the blank residents that filled the aisle were all wearing normal clothing, but both he and Alter were in swimsuits and a shirt. Alter still had that one size too small jacket to wear, and Ritsuka had that red, yellow-flowered Hawaiian shirt.

Both a little too underdressed to be walking down this aisle. Some of Ritsuka's scars could be seen, along with the edges of his toned muscle. And Alter's curves equally had drawn some stares.

Nothing had happened, nothing overt anyway outside of the staring, and some of those who'd blushed and turned away. Ritsuka could see Osakabehime, curling out from behind a particular booth. Her eyes widening as she spotted the two of them. With the widening of her eyes, came a rising blush, that never quite seemed to leave her.

But worst of all, she'd started to sketch them as soon as she saw them.

As they walked at a quickened pace around the corner and out of the aisle, they firmly locked their necks so they couldn't look back.

Ritsuka spoke between them first. "Sorry. I should've looked before I turned."

Alter seemed to turn only redder. "L-look. Let's just grab the doujins we want to read before we try to get on our flight back to Chaldea." One arm intertwined with his, and with the other, she moved to straighten his collar.

"Do you need to step outside for a bit?" He asked, trying to remember the last time anything had gone like this for her.

Sometimes she likes going out for a breath of fresh air when things spiral.

"Ugh, could you stop nagging just for one second you pervert?" She paused to look at him. "It's infuriating." She unhooked her arm from him. "Plus if I want to take a break, it would be to punch Medb. Everyone else there is just trying to sell their artwork to get by, Medb is there just because she wants attention." She took off a few steps ahead, stopping at one of the corner booths. This booth belonged to Frankenstein and the old man, who preferred to go by M while he was playing fatherly host to the berserker servant.

Ritsuka fell quiet and tried to ignore that slight pang in his heart that her words had given him. Then he blinked, "Wait, wait. How do you know everyone in there is the starving artist type?"

Alter froze, turning to eye him in horror. "I...I didn't say that they were the starving artist type." She paused her browsing as he joined her at his side.

He smiled wider, "No you didn't." He agreed, but there was a slight smile on his lips. One that dared to border on a smirk.

She huffed. "I don't know what you think you're smiling about. But you're making me want to wipe it off your face."

Ritsuka hummed a little as he crouched next to her as he looked into the display case. Outside of the Doujin, apparently, Frankenstein had a remarkable eye for sculpture work. The berserker seemed to be a master of melding clay into shapes, as he could make out the shapes, all the knicks that seemed to make up Mordred's typical armor.

"Stop smiling about whatever you think you're smiling about. I'm sure whatever idea you've concluded is just as wrong, cheap, and dumb as Medb's latest photo album!" She seemed to grow redder with each passing second her fluster growing in its intensity. "Hey, are you even listening to me, if you don't stop thinking about it-"

"HEY watch what you say about Medb, our queen!"

Alter hissed half turning around and flipping off who'd ever said it.

Before it could escalate any further, Ritsuka grabbed Alter's hand and turned her back around so they were both crouching and looking into the display case. "No, trouble Alter." He repeated. "I mean" he shrugged, "we should at least get some doujins before you get us thrown out."

She relaxed, but only a little, another pout starting to form. "That's really not fair, master." Alter said sourly.

He chuckled. "I offered to walk you outside didn't I?"

Alter hugged her knees as she puffed out her cheeks, her frustrated pout exaggerating for a few seconds as she pushed her lips together. But ultimately her expression softened. She blinked the thought away and her amber eyes focused on him. She saw the mark forming on Ritsuka's forehead. It was right beneath his hairline, and right where she'd flicked him. Her eyes widened as she realized just how much of her servant strength had leaked through. A few seconds of hesitation passed before she reached out to touch it.

He winced at the touch, his eyes swiveling to her.

She froze and retracted her arms to hug herself, realizing she'd caused him more pain. "S-sorry."

Ritruka's blue eyes steadied themselves on her, but before he could say anything he heard a grunt.

"Uw." Frankenstein leaned over the side of her booth to look at them. When she tilted her head, the hair moved to cover her blue eye a little more. "Hughz?" She followed Ritsuka's eyes towards the sculpture she'd made of Mordred. "Uw!"

Ritsuka smiled. "Not for sale huh?"

She shook her head.

Moriarty leaned over the edge of the booth as well. "Could we perhaps interest the both of you in something else? There are other sculptures? Not to mention my daughter's entry this year for the doujin contest?"

Ritsuka smiled wryly. "It's alright," He stood up from his crouch. "Alter and I were just browsing." He glanced at Alter.

She still seemed a little put-out, hugging herself as she stood beside him.

"It's very beautiful." He said, smiling a bit wider for Frankenstein. "I think she'll love it." His eyes passed between both Frankenstein and Moriarty. "She might be a little nervous about displaying it though."

Frankenstein seemed to shift awkwardly. "Uwm." She agreed. She stepped back away from the edge of the booth and sat down. She had another sculpture she was in the middle of molding and carving. This one Ritsuka couldn't quite place, though it looked to be another servant of some kind and not one of Chaldea's staff. But without its completion or colors, or weapon, he'd have trouble narrowing it down.

Alter grabbed his hand, which pulled his attention back to the present. She was glaring daggers at Moriarty. "Don't get any ideas old man."

He seemed to huff out a scoff. "I'm on my best behavior. I have been since my very summoning." He tilted his head. "Outside of the Ozymandias incident of course. But it was Sherlock who had practically dared me to step out of line with his 'I can catch anyone' comment."

That was an unpleasant memory at best. Ritsuka winced slightly at the thought of it, Moriarty had tried to get a few servants to fight each other. It was close enough to become problematic before Sherlock managed to unravel the whole thing. Along with Mash, who wanted to tag along with him.

Moriarty looked back at Frankenstein. "Even criminal masterminds need to take the time to vacation, you know?"

Alter's glare remained unphased.

He turned his attention back to the two of them, and then his eyes focused on Ritsuka's forehead. "Perhaps you should go get an ice pack." He smiled slightly, and Ritsuka suspected that it was because he already knew the answer. "Did you fall down the stairs on the way here?" He made a show of rubbing his chin speculatively. Then he looked at Alter. "You should take better care of our master."

This needs to be dealt with quickly.

Her eyes were glaring daggers now.

Ritsuka turned to walk away, making sure that he paused in front of Alter to look at her.

She blinked and seemed to come back to her senses, though the anger was still there, her fingers grew tighter on his hand.

He looked back to Moriarty. "Good luck." Ritsuka smiled at the criminal mastermind turned temporary father figure. Then with Alter once again attached to his arm, he led the way, down the rest of the side hall. Dodging and weaving them through the crowd. All the while trying to ignore the daggers being glared at him.

But it's not for me.

Finally, they arrived at the aisle Alter wanted to go to. To pick up the next one she knew she was certain she wanted to try. Only before going any further, he paused to look at her. Instantly he could tell something was off, but he wasn't sure entirely what.

Wherever her thoughts had taken her, she was suddenly brought back when he looked at her. A frown still touched her lips. But whatever had been off, was gone as she met his eyes.

He gripped her fingers a little tighter. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Alter paused for a moment. She glanced down at her free hand to watch her fingers. They twitched like they had before she been hit with that first wave of dizziness. "I don't know." She said. Amber eyes flicked back to Ritsuka. "I think it might be my berserker enhancement?" Her eyes narrowed a little in thought, and she pressed the palm of her free hand against her forehead.

"Headache?" Ritsuka moved so he was standing adjacent to her.

"Mmm." She nodded a couple of times. "Maybe I just need something to eat...or drink." Alter paused to look up at him. "Those are traditionally what help right?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes. I suppose it's worth the try." Thankfully, they hadn't needed to go very far to find food for the con. However, his gaze hadn't quite left yet, watching her press her fingers against her forehead again. "If it's your berserker enhancement, why is it a problem now? It…" Ritsuka blinked. "Well, you seemed fine a few days ago?"

Alter shrugged with uncertainty.

"Jeanne! Ritsuka!" Gudako was there, seated at a table large enough for four. Food was already served across their table. It looked like something different than the typical American variety of foods that were offered.

Which meant that they got their food from the food trucks outside.

Edmond had thrown his black jacket over the chair behind him, so he stood there pale and broad-chested. The occasional stares from onlookers were noticeable since his skin was equally pale to Jeanne Alter's skin. He was halfway through taking a bite of a sandwich only he paused to wave at them.

Alter offered a tentative wave back, but ultimately she looked back at Ritsuka, wondering what he would want to do.

He shrugged, as he met her gaze. "They have extra chairs." He said offering a reason for why he was going to suggest that they share a late lunch or early dinner with his sister. "I'm down for either. Your choice of where we eat Alter."

She shook her head. "I don't typically have to eat to maintain anything master. It doesn't make any sense for me to pick a place to eat."

Ritsuka raised an eyebrow at her as the two of them walked towards Gudako. "Actually it makes perfect sense for you to choose where we are going to eat." This time he squeezed her arm. "You don't need food as sustenance, which means the only thing that really concerns you is the taste of whatever you want to eat." He waited until Alter had stopped to look at him. "And right now, you have a headache, so I'm leaving it to you to decide what you want best."

Alter made a slight face at him before they continued to walk towards the table.

"Though, I would suggest avoiding junk food. Sometimes too much of that can worsen headaches…" He trailed off a little.

"Fine." She said, "There has to be a place around here that can make some decent, somewhat healthy food." Her amber eyes were already scanning the food stands that were built into the walls of the convention center.

Gudako had a hand on her hip. "Good to see the two of you." She smiled a little, looking more towards her brother. "Everything going well at the sales booth?"

He nodded a few times. "Better than expected." Ritsuka glanced towards Alter. "Far better really." His blue eyes went to Alter. "We think we knocked it out of the park." His smile grew a little wider. "Actually we might sell out completely if our projections hold through to the end of the day."

Alter smiled a little.

"Really?" Gudako's eyes widened, and then she looked back at Edmond. "Huh…" She scratched the back of her head. Then she turned to Jeanne. "Well done, I know you've been working really hard ever since we got stuck here."

Alter blushed a little at the praise, but she still firmed her lips. "It wasn't that hard!" Then she huffed slightly. "It was just time-consuming." Her eyes narrowed in the direction of Medb. "If it weren't for that stuck-up bitch, I think we would've won a while ago."

Ritsuka blinked, having actually noticed his sister's discomfort. "What's up?"

Edmond looked up at their group.

Gudako shook her head a little bit. "It's nothing. Mysteries and I don't go well together you know?" She smiled at Edmond. Then she turned to look back at her brother. "We can talk more about it later."

He nodded in understanding, the three of them walked back towards the table.

Edmond leaned back in his chair smiling up at them. "Glad to see you haven't been killed yet, master." He raised an eyebrow towards Alter. "Given your choice of company's tendency towards being...unpredictable."

Ritsuka felt some tension but relaxed as soon as he saw the smile on Alter's face.

"Oh, is that a rematch? I hear you want Edmond." She put a hand on the table almost leaning over him. "I still have gasoline and match leftover from our last duel."

He huffed a laugh. "Still obsessed with fire I see."

Gudako hugged Edmond from behind and kissed his cheek. "Now, try not to press too many buttons."

He smiled with a hum as she pulled away. "As you say, dear." Edmond bowed his head towards Ritsuka. "I thought you being a shut-in for the past week would've put a damp in your step. But you seem to be doing okay."

The other master of Chaldea nodded his head in return. "I'm not as shut in about this whole thing as I probably should be." He offered a small smile back towards Alter. "At least, I'm sure our work could've gone a little faster if I'd been more willing to be a shut-in."

Alter smiled at him, her fingers wrapping neatly around her master's hand. "It might've, but I did get to talk about more about the island this place seems to be a recreation of." She blushed a little at the memory of their night at the pool. "You know, all the stuff in the brochure that no one else but me seemed to bother reading." She had a slight smirk on her lips as she finished, being certain her master saw it before it was gone.

"Yeah, that one's not gonna go away anytime soon," Rituska said quietly. He scratched the back of his head. "If the two of you are willing to save us seats, we'll be back in a few minutes." There was another quick exchange of smiles and jokes, then it was off to pick food.

There was nothing that suited Alter's momentary preferences indoors, so they decided to step outside, heading towards the food truck lot, where a lot of the more exotic flavors would be. Greek food, Mediterranean, Mexican, Italian, and like the indoors of Servfest's food court, lots of American choices of different sandwiches and burgers. And seafood. Lots and lots of seafood.

"Not much fancy food here is there?" Alter said skeptically.

Ritsuka nodded his agreement. "I imagine most of that is to be found in restaurants in the bay area. Or maybe the Iron Chef's current place for the week."

The two of them took their time perusing through the food trucks, looking for anything that might stand out to them. Ritsuka found, amusingly, that Alter had a difficult time making such small decisions for herself.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT!" She huffed out a breath, and gestured around them, to all the choices. "I've never really had to choose, I just went with what you wanted. Picking food based on something other than its benefits never occurred to me because of Chaldea's simplistic foods. Even with Emiya and Boudica's revamping, I rarely went." She folded her arms with a huff.

Ritsuka raised a brow. "And for holidays?"

"Big events felt mandatory." She pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, her frown deepening.

Maybe the pulses were getting worse?

A frown touched his lips.

Alter sensed his concern, her amber eyes meeting his. She focused on the subject, blurting out an answer before the concern could come out in the form of a question. "F-fine." She said, "Let's do some greek salads and gyros. That's healthy enough right?"

He sighed, "Healthy enough," he agreed.

#

The table had others by the time they returned. Edmond and Gudako were joined by Robin and Ibaraki. His sister was squeezing the details she could from Robin, about both what had been going on with the Doujin the last few days. The stuff that probably both he and Alter had deliberately left out.

Gudako is thorough like that.

It also made for slightly more difficult seating arrangements. Alter and Ritsuka shared one side of the table, and a corner together. At least temporarily while the discussion continued uninterrupted by their arrival.

It allowed for the two of them to eat in silence beside one another, staring out at the conversation before them.

Once it had been concluded, Ibaraki and Robin left, and the seating arrangements returned to their initial plans, and Ritsuka couldn't help but wonder how many times that his sister had this exact same conversation with Edmond.

"Once summer is over, and we return to Chaldea, how do you feel if I accompany you for some mana prism farming?" Edmond said it with a small smile.

His sister phoned it in supremely well. However, there was just a slight twitch at the corner of Gudako's smile. "Yes, of course. I think that could be pleasant. Perhaps we could even convince doctor Roman to let us bring a picnic basket?"

Alter looked across the table at Ritsuka, her eyes suddenly filled with understanding.

Ritsuka simply nodded quietly at her, confirming her suspicions.

We are the lucky ones I guess.

He huffed out a chuckle.

Or the tormented ones.

Edmond smiled and grabbed his trash. "Alright well…" He looked between Gudako and Ritsuka. "I'll be outside if you need me." He grabbed his coat and swung it on in a dramatic fashion. "Want to take one last look around the area for those fucking incessant crabs, make sure they aren't going to interrupt the festival." He bowed his head to the group politely and showed himself out.

Gudako twitched slightly, as he left, managing to hold onto her smile until he was out of sight. Then it faded, like sunlight, and she spoke candidly. "I hope you win, because honestly. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. It always ends the same for him…"

Ritsuka bristled in his silence. "I'm...we are trying."

Her lip twitched, and the frown faded into something...tired. "I know." Gudako stiffened slightly as she suddenly stood up. "I'll find out what's killing him, my worry is how many times I will live in either sharp contrast through each loop. Either he's alive, or he's very much dead." She pocketed her hands into her shorts, and her shoulders slumped. Her smirk went to Alter. "Just don't make a tragedy Doujin. I'm not so sure I could take it."

Ritsuka risked a small smile, happy to see that despite the circumstances, his sister wasn't too bogged down by the emotions currently wrangling her. "Trust me if we write a tragedy, we'll be using other inspirations long before we get to you."

She huffed a laugh."Look I'll see you both at the airport later." She turned her eyes to Alter and she put a hand on her shoulder.

The berserker stiffened but met his sister's gaze.

Gudako was quiet. "Keep your head down okay. I…" Her brow furrowed with concentration. "I'm not sure what's happening here, but whatever it is, could spell some real trouble." She looked at Ritsuka. "Something more than just BB."

He frowned a little. "We had a big workload to re-work the story." He said by explanation. "Next time we'll be able to set a bit more time aside for the investigation." Ritsuka blinked, amending his statement. "If there is a next time."

She nodded slowly, "I don't think the problem goes away if you win. It's a first step that needs to be achieved." Gudako's eyes flicked once more down at Alter. "Keep my brother safe." Her face formed a frown. "And don't be baited into unnecessary fights."

Alter nodded, falling silent. She'd stopped eating for the moment, her amber eyes following the other master of Chaldea until she was out of sight. Alter no doubt understood the advice to her, but she knew the difficulty would be reigning her berserker enhancement. "Sorry." She said, "I didn't know that it was so bad your sister had noticed."

He'd fallen silent too, the goodbye to Gudako coming out as automatic from his lips. His blue eyes flicked to Alter, once his sister had left. "You're normally a passive-aggressive Alter, But you don't usually actively try to pick fights. You actively search for crabs now. And trouble. You keep searching for it, and you'll probably find it." A small smile touched his lips again. "Shakspeare's probably the most recent example I'd point to."

That I know of.

Because Alter could go out without his knowledge. She'd always had the freedom to do such things. He doubted he could ever convince her to do otherwise.

She huffed. "Yeah, but Shakespear deserved it." Alter leaned back in her chair to sip at the drink she'd gotten along with her food.

Shakespeare is also when that unknown lingering problem had gotten considerably worse.

Rituska gave a little nod towards her. "How are you feeling? Any better?"

Alter nodded, "A little," she leaned down to take another bite of her food. "It's like...uh, it's like I felt sluggish before." She gestured to herself. "Like everything felt heavy. But the food's kinda helped make that feeling go away." She shook her head. "Not entirely…but enough that it's noticeable to me."

The two of them lingered to finish their food. Then they were off once more to pick out their doujins for the day. Alter wanted to hunt around more this time for more specific ones. Instead of going in the block by block order that they had been. Another unspoken sign that she was starting to believe it herself, that they wouldn't repeat the loop.

Alter had been having fun, a romance, a thriller, and a mystery doujins in hand for the choice of reading while they waited for the loop's end and the plane ride back to Chaldea. As people left in droves, the con emptied. They'd been returning to their booth to catch up with the others, sunset colors blazing through the glass roof panels and windows.

And then Medb came to mock them as she always did.

Every time we've lost.

Medb smirked at his reaction to seeing her.

Ritsuka closed his eyes feeling as if he'd been slapped. Because this was a constant that he'd put up with every loop, whether Alter was with him or not. For the very briefest of seconds, he couldn't think of what would've been worse for him. Medb being the one to deliver to them the news that they'd lost. Or how he would've had to break the news to Alter before the loop came to its now inevitable reset time.

Would she have taken it any better in private?

And through his interlinked arms with Alter, he tightened his grip. It was the only thing he could do until Medb had finished. He desperately wished he could soothe her some other way, because even through their rarely used Master and Servant bond, a dark cloud had gathered, to muck up that tangibility of it between them.

Alter was firmly rooted in place, the implication of Medb's appearance hadn't been lost on her. She'd frozen, her eyes widening. She returned the grip of her master's hand almost instinctively like she was trying to root herself in place. The familiar words from Medb's lips, not lost on her even as she tuned the queen's voice out.

Her fingers vibrated in his. "But…" Amber eyes flicked to Ritsuka looking for an explanation, "I thought that…" Then back to Medb, she pressed her lips together, biting down to keep her voice in place.

Ritsuka winced at the sound of Alter's confusion, worse the desperation in her voice. Perhaps she'd wanted to put an end to the loops as much as he had? Carefully he brought his expression back under control as Medb's usual tirade continued predictably. The last thing he wanted was to give Medb any more satisfaction in victory.

Perhaps it's a little too late for even that.

Medb's smirk seemed to widen. "What? You thought you could win?" She stepped closer running her fingers through her hair to make it flow behind her. Her fans, the biggest and the buffest of them, were gathered in a small crowd behind her. An ever-present reminder, for an ever-present threat that they couldn't do anything. That they couldn't so much as touch her without risking retaliation.

Something that would only amuse Medb further.

Alter's amber eyes flicked to Ritsuka.

Almost pleading, like she wanted him to wake her from a dream. And it made her master sink just a little bit deeper into his heart. He felt like he was shrinking underneath Alter's gaze because he had no idea what to do.

Instead, he just stewed in his silence.

"Master? I thought…" There was that sinking feeling in her voice, like she was biting back her own emotions. The realization finally sunk in with its entirety. Her breath hitched, and the sound of Alter being devastated was a sound he never wanted to hear ever in his life again.

Because even after all that work.

"Don't take it personally you Bimbo, I'm also here to congratulate you on your attempt."

Ritsuka winced at that, knowing exactly how fast Alter was going to latch onto that insult and use it to fuel a response. He took a deep breath.

Even as he looked at Alter, he could see the devastation leave her expression. It left her expression everywhere but the eyes. Fury started to form.

Medb continued. "For a group with only a week's time to get a doujin out, selling out your entire stock is an impressive feat." Medb gestured to herself. "Considering the competition." You could never have reached the heights that my doujin has reached without having to account for the selling numbers." She winked at them. "Better luck next year!" Medb had half turned away to rejoin her crowd of confederates.

"HEY ASSHOLE," Alter lunged forward, ripping her arm free of Ritsuka's grasp, cocking her arm back.

Medb's smirk faded, the only real bit of satisfaction that Ritsuka felt because he knew almost in intricate detail what would follow. As one of two of Chaldea's surviving masters, it afforded him with the honing of his imagination on how events and strategies would play out. So what followed was only predictable.

She'd turned nearly all the back around when Alter's knuckles collided with her cheek, there was a prana burst that tore the ground beneath Alter's feet. Tiles were torn up, and the nearest glass to them broke.

And Medb was slammed back into the big arms of one of her fans.

Robin stood up so fast, that the chair in their booth clattered backward onto the floor. He brought his bow to bear, wanting to get permission from his master before he engaged. His eyes flicked to Ritsuka.

He grimaced slightly.

Because the damage was already done.

A few of the fans carried Medb away.

Others were already moving in to retaliate on Alter.

Ritsuka gave a nod for the others to help, and this time he was able to clear away the fog that had fallen over him. On this, he would leave no room for a push-back argument. The order came through clear, reverberating in the silence of the bond he'd shared with each of the servants that were about to brawl.

Even to her.

"NO KILLING."

Alter flinched, but leaped into a smooth motion as one of the bigger men, had gotten to her. She must've been half his size, as he jumped towards her. She fell purposefully onto her back, letting his chest land on the soles of her feet, with teeth, gritted she kicked him up, knocking him twenty feet back into another booth.

She twisted herself up, just in time to catch a punch, between her arms, and twisted them around planting her feet against the round stone column, and used her prana burst to push off, twisting them both in the air, and lobbying them with inhuman strength back into the crowd.

One of them had gotten behind her, but a quick chop to the back of the head from Ushiwakamaru knocked them out instantly and they crumpled to the floor. She looked at the chaos forming around them. "You really couldn't keep it to yourself could you?" She squared up, pushing herself back to back with Alter.

Alter hissed, "SHUT UP." She caught the next punch in her palm and crack their fist's bones with the closing of hers around it. She kicked them in the ribs and sent them sprawling back too.

Ushiwakamaru didn't say anything as she focused on their next attacker. He was more cautious than the others, granted. Instead of the heavy blows, most were going for, he waited until someone was already trying to attack her.

He threw a few light jabs towards her, but thanks to her extra speed, they still fell short.

Then she kicked her right foot off the back of her first attacker's head, with enough momentum to pivot in the air, sending right foot into her cautious attacker's cheek, the sole of her sandals leaving red marks as they both were flattened against the ground.

Robin dove forward, hooking two of them in his biceps, and slamming the two of them onto their backs. As they recovered, like Ushiwakamaru, a quick swift strike to both, lulled them into their sleep.

Then he pushed off the ground with his hands and twisted himself in the air, to kick off his next attacker. A sigh escaped Robin's lips. "Does this strike anyone else as needlessly cruel? Or is it just the master and me?"

Mash was shaken but she was planted firmly in front of Ritsuka, using her shield to throw and push others off to the side. "I-I'm thirding that opinion!" She turned her purple eyes to master pleadingly before they sharpened into a warning.

Ristuka cursed, and pushed off to the left, as someone missed their chair swing to the back of his head. He huffed, as he followed through with his dodge, and quickly fell to a crouch.

His shield servant bashed the blunt end of her shield into them, sending the hurtling twenty feet. Then she spun around to face the main fight again, she used her shield to block two.

Mash planted her shield's edge into the ground, using it to hoist herself into the air, slamming her elbow into the back of an attacker's neck, and kicking the other one away. Then she took two steps back to be in front of Ritsuka again.

He hissed. "The problem is there are a lot of them." He took a breath, trying to remember all those little sparring sessions he and his sister did. Ritsuka pushed off the tile as another one came too close to comfort, avoiding the first punch, and the second.

"Master!" Ushiwakamaru shouted, noticing the distress.

I know I know!

Ritsuka brought his foot to the back of their knee, collapsing them down onto a leg, and then he surged forward grabbing his attackers by the head, and tucked himself in for a roll, as he slammed their head back into the tile floor.

He huffed and started jogging back towards Mash. He nodded to her. "I'll take down the ones that get behind you. Just focus on crowd control with the others."

Mash looked worried, but she nodded firmly, trusting his judgment.

Another big one had joined the fight, managing to punch Alter square in the stomach, sending her crashing into one of the booths. She huffed, her hands gripping the table, and flipped herself over.

Just as they brought their fist down into it, shattering it.

The blow only seemed to anger her further, as she jumped up grabbing either end of the sign labeling the booth, and brought the poles in swift motion down onto the big guy's head.

She might've even smiled.

But he grabbed her by the hips, nails digging into her skin, and threw her back towards Ushiwakamaru.

The ninja duked under the berserker, and she leaped up into the air, slamming her knees into the next attacker.

Her eyes flicked back to Alter and then focused on the big guy that was coming for them. She could see that most of the damage to him had already been done. A few hits in the right places would do the trick.

Ritsuka tripped one, slamming his knee into their back, and then pressed his bicep against the back of their head to hold him down. He looked up between Mash's next shield swing.

We're a third of the way through the Medb fans that stayed to swarm us.

His eyes flicked to Alter, in the corner of his eyes, as she shook her head, once more trying to clear whatever berserk fog was threatening to take hold of it.

Thankfully she got a hold of it just enough, and just in time.

She ducked down under the next blow, catching her attacker by the leg that swung over her head, and slung them over her shoulder, slamming the back down into the ground.

Robin was agile, bouncing between booths and using sleeping darts where he could, and getting his hands dirty where he needed. Joining Ushiwakamru in the middle once she was starting to get surrounded. "Well, at least they won't remember this when it all resets."

Ushi smiled. "You almost sound pleased archer?"

Robin's mouth formed into a line. "Medb's getting on everyone's nerves. So have her followers." He shrugged. "Plus, dismantling royalty, even that royalty's protection in a way is kinda my thing."

He squared up and dove between two attackers, only leaving Ushi's side for a second, planting two swift kicks to their legs.

They both fell onto their respective knees.

And Robin twisted himself around grabbing them both by the back of their heads and slamming them both face-first into the ground. Then with a quick prana dash, he was back at Ushi's back. "Feels strangely right at home despite the…" He glanced at Alter. "The brutality."

The ninja had wrapped someone between the calves of her legs, she rolled herself onto Robin's back, and over him, using her legs as the grips to throw him into the onrushing crowd.

The two of them stood side by side, glanced at one another, and then squared up.

Ristuka took a knee to the stomach, and he hissed, catching the follow-up haymaker by throwing his arm with a counter to their forearm, then it was his turn to step into their guard.

He cupped his hands and slammed them into their ears, and then shoved them into Mash's next wide shield swing, which sent them far out of his reach.

Then he winced and fell onto his knees. "Shit." He muttered out of breath. He'd taken out four now by his count, that last one proving to have been a bit too much. He could feel the bruises on two other hits that had gotten through.

He looked up, noting the fight was mostly out of sight beyond Mash's shield.

Pains of being just a normal human.

Suddenly Mash looked wide-eyed, as she bent her shield back, and crouched.

Alter came flying over into the back, slamming into the ground with a roll. Her near-white skin smudged with marks from the dust, and the rubble she'd caused, and a few scant cuts from where she'd been on the rarer occasions hit.

She growled and punched the ground, with a crack, as she leaned on her side, looking wide-eyed back at the fight.

Her fighting haze dropped as she spotted Ritsuka realizing where she'd ended up with those last few hits. She touched her forehead as her eyes lingered just a little too long on his chest. The bruises on his arms beneath the sleeves of his hawain shirt. She noted how all those hits had been averse to hitting his mystic code directly.

His blue eyes were on her, as he wiped the blood away from his lip. Then he turned away.

First thing's first.

The big guy, the one that had sent Alter flying across the room, the last one that had stayed with them, was definitely more servant than just a simple bystander. Like typical shadows, he was a formed person but had a black ichor muck of smoke that seemed to trail his movements.

Ushi planted her elbow firmly into his cheek.

Robin punched him hard in the chest, leaving a mark with his fist.

The shadow twisted himself, swinging his big arms with equally blinding speed at the two of them. He caught Ushi, before she could fall back to the ground, and used a prana burst to whirl her around with his spin, throwing her towards a column.

Robin caught the other blow with both of his arms, digging his feet into the ground, the shockwave dissipating around them. But he was still dragged across the floor, his feet cutting through the ground. And if he hadn't been a servant, they might have been removed. But he still winced as he felt the soles of his feet getting a few minor cuts.

Ushi landed feet first against the column half shattering from the impact, eyes narrowing towards the fight.

The shadow hefted Robin up, both of the archer's hands still wrapped around the big arm.

Robin saw his opening and kicked both feet out against the shadow's chest, gritting his teeth as he dug the soles of his feet into their skin. Letting go, so he could fall back to the ground.

Ushi leaped off back towards them, shattering the rest of the column with the prana burst.

The Shadow, pivoted on his foot and slammed the sole of his foot into the center of Robin's chest, and sent him hurtling.

Ushi's eyes widened realizing it was too late, as they half collided.

Robin face planted into the ground, his thin shirt tore, with bloodied marks as he slammed his back into the base of the same broken column.

He curled with a wince, his eyes opening wide now that he'd been stopped mid-motion.

With a blink, Ushi's eyes widened as half her vision clouded, caught in the Shadow's hand. She slammed both her arms into their shoulders. She was rewarded with a hiss of pain from the shadow.

And then she was slammed headfirst back into the ground, creating a crater.

Her eyes widened, as she coughed out spittle and blood. But she didn't linger, rolling out of the way with a prana burst.

Just as the Shadow's foot slammed into the ground her neck had been.

Ushi huffed and scrambled to her feet, more sensing that they were following her movements just behind her, She whirled herself around and crossed her arms over her chest, just in time to block the next punch that sent her skidding across the ground back through one of the booths.

She stuck her hands out to catch herself on the wall. The assassin huffed out a breath and could feel blood dripping down from her hairline. She closed her right eye just as the blood reached it. Even worse, she sounded winded as she spoke. "Problem master!"

The others were now swarming her and Robin.

Robin hissed from the ground, winding a rope around his bow, and fired towards Ushi.

Ushi sidestepped the shot, but with both hands latched onto the rope and hauled Robin over towards her with all her strength, just as others started to reach him.

The archer huffed out a breath, as he used Ushi's momentum to land halfway up the wall divider wall through the con. He hauled himself up and reached down offering a hand.

Ushi grabbed ahold, and this time she avoided using a prana burst realizing now they should start trying to conserve some of their strength. She huffed as she landed gracefully, in a crouch on the divider walls.

Master shouted back. "I see it, I see it, Mash!"

The shadow had turned to Mash and started to charge forward towards them like a raging bull. Knocking two others out of the way as he did.

Ritsuka backed away a few steps, aiming a gundo shot over Mash's shield. He managed to only get one off before the collision happened.

They slammed their shoulder into Mash's shield, forcing her to skid back.

The purple-haired girl winced, but still held firmly onto her shield, slowly dissipating the momentum of the charge. Stopping just short of Ritsuka. Her fingers strained against the shield, with a huff.

Ritsuka pushed his back up against Mash, and they both planted their feet.

Alter sprinted, her fingers gripping the edge of Mash's shield, as she swung herself over both her Master and the young servant, keeping her legs tight together, tucking them into her chest, then she planted both her feet just beneath the shadow's left collar bone.

The air rippled with shocks around them from the blow, and the Shadow was sent back through the rest of the crowd of smaller fodder.

The berserker didn't linger, with fingers still on the shield, Alter swung her legs around, planting her feet firmly against Mash's shield. Tucking her legs in again, she jumped off with a prana burst, sending another few rippling shocks through the air.

Mash had planted her feet, jumping to push her off too, but the force of it still made her stumble back. She huffed out a breath, pushing some of the pink hair from her eyes.

Somewhere in the air ahead, Alter made contact with the Shadow servant. The two figures slamming together, reducing the rest of Medb's followers in very short order with their impact.

Alter punched the Shadow again, this time slamming them into a column closer to the door, with plenty of force enough to crack it, bits of concrete coming loose from the ceiling above.

The fight seemed to pause briefly.

Then the shadow intertwined the fingers of its hand above Alter and brought it down slamming the back of her neck, where her neck met her shoulder bones.

She was noiseless as she spat out blood, cracks forming in the ground around her where she was still standing.

With a huff, she pressed her palms into his elbows pushings his arms out wide, then slammed her hands in a chopping motion against the shadow's neck.

Instead of blood being spat out, black ichor came out darkening Alter's white hair. Whatever the shadow servant was, it seemed to let out something between a roar and a growl.

The shadow's arms were still out wide, Alter punched them thrice more with enough force to finally send them through the column.

Until finally the Shadow ducked, avoiding a blow to the head, instead hauling Alter's arm over their shoulder, applying hard and quick pressure.

Alter's eyes widened, mouth opened as she cried out with pain.

The cracking sound of her arm breaking rippled through the air.

Ritsuka was just behind Mash as they tried to get closer, and he winced at the sound.

The berserker bit her lip, and saw her opening, even as she was about to be twisted around even more. With all her strength, she planted her feet against the side of the Shadow's knee.

Enough to get a bone-cracking sound of her own, as the air rippled around them.

The Shadow still had the better leverage, twisting Alter with her broken arm, he lobbed her back into the booths with a crash.

"Ugh!"Alter growled and hissed, fingers grabbing her arm, as she rolled onto her side she wasn't lying on her broken arm and shoulder. It seemed for a brief moment the little nicks and other wounds she'd sustained had caught up with her.

The Shadow stumbled as well, half falling over against a booth. They were seething enough now, that whatever restrictions its master had imposed fell to the wayside. In its hands formed a spear.

Ritsuka smiled tightly, speaking through his bonds to all of them. "Alright everyone, lancer class, looks to be a double-headed poleaxe. Weapons free, Robin wound his other leg, Ushi attack, Mash defend Ushi."

He blew out a breath of relief as the acknowledgments came in.

Ushi led the way, sprinting along the thin wall divider running through the con, her sword brandished, she twisted in the air.

The shadow saw the attack coming, hefted the point of its long weapon up into the air, blocking the attack.

The two weapons locked with one another, as Ushi spun over them, landing upright and on the ground. Then the weapons sparked off, as the Shadow brought the other end of the pole to bear, a small tipped spearhead.

Ushi jumped back to avoid the blow.

Robin followed jumping from booth stand to booth stand, two arrows firing through the thigh of the other leg.

The shadow blocked the third and fourth, aiming to slam the head of his weapon into Ushi.

But Mash was there, gritting her teeth, as she slid the polearm away, keeping it aside open for Ushi to attack again.

The Shadow Pivoted on its arrow wounded leg, to avoid the blow and get all three of them to one side of his weapon.

That should keep the shadow busy.

He jogged over the people they'd knocked out, and clambered over the cracked ground and rubble that filled his path. He could feel his own aches and pains from where a few hits had landed on him as he did. "Yep, I'm gonna be feeling this with the reset tomorrow."

Alter coughed with a wince still clutching her arm on the ground. The shoulder of her jacket had slipped off somewhere during the fight, and she quickly looked up at the sound of movement. Already channeling mana, her amber eyes filled with fury.

Ritsuka held up a hand, "Just me!"

She huffed and instead moved to straighten her black jacket over her shoulder. "Just need a moment. I'll be up to-" She coughed again, another hiss escaping her lips as she tried to sit up. Alter pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead.

Ritsuka gripped her shoulder and offered an arm to help her stand.

Alter was quiet despite the fight in the distance. "S-s..sorry." Her voice barely above that of a whisper. She wouldn't look him in the eyes as he helped her to his feet.

His heart clenched up with a mixing swirl of emotions coursing through him.

She looked down even as she'd found her feet, "Sorry." she mumbled again. A blood trail coming from somewhere in tangled strings of her white hair, coating the area around her eye, another, from the opposite corner of her mouth. "Sorry…"

Ritsuka's jaw tightened, and he moved on. "Summon your sword. Jump in only once Robin has rendered the other leg immobile." He tightened his grip only briefly on her shoulder. His tone became the voice of the Chaldean master, leaving no room for argument. "Not a moment sooner."

Now that she was on her feet, he left her and jogged towards the fight, trying to ignore the part of his mind that blamed her.

Ushi threw two kunai, both of which were blocked by the polearm. She ducked under an ax swing.

Mash raised her shield, unable to dodge completely out of the way, the poleaxe slamming into her shield with a loud clang.

Robin had his opening, one arrow for the calf, two for the knee, thumping through the black ichory flesh, with rippling waves pulsating the air with shocks. He smirked with his success and jumped back to avoid the following attack.

The shadow fell onto one knee, catching Ushi's blade.

Ritsuka let out a breath. "Now!"

Alter held out her hand, lightening and pulsating energy formed in the air as her sword appeared crackling in her outstretched right arm.

Mash dropped her shield on the back end of the poleaxe, now standing behind the Shadow. With enough force to aim the poleaxe's head up, and out of reach.

With Ushi's weapon no longer interlocked, she dove forward, Alter falling in step beside her, with a prana burst, as they stabbed their respective swords through the Shadow's chest.

Ushi slid her sword out a different angle holding the blade tightly in a ready stance as if expecting more.

Alter was less graceful, kicking the shadow off her end of the sword.

But it was over, with nearly a third of the room in tatters and pieces. A sullen quiet fell over the group as they looked around just to be certain they'd gotten the last of their attackers.

Ushi stumbled slightly, Ritsuka caught her arm. "Thanks," she mumbled.

He nodded quietly, gesturing for Mash to come over. His mind started to wander, too much he realized. But he couldn't do anything to stop it. Ritsuka's mouth pressed into a hard line, hiding a barely concealed frown that was bubbling beneath the surface.

Mash's shield dissipated, and jogged over, throwing Ushi's other arm over her shoulder, she gave the assassin an appraising look before nodding to Ritsuka that she had her.

Robin walked over to join the three of them, putting a hand on his hip, gingerly taking each step. Blood still oozed from the soles of his feet, and he huffed a couple of chuckles as he got close. "Guess, there'll be a blood trail till I got the mana to fix this."

Ritsuka flexed his fingers. "I don't have much in the way of raw healing ability." He nodded towards one of the broken booths. "But I can at least do this for you. Sit down and put your feet up for a moment."

The archer complied, turning gingerly towards the indicated booth, and hauled himself onto it with a wince. "Master?"

Ritsuka's eyes were on Alter while he waited on Robin to situate himself.

Her sword had vanished into particles of light, and she was standing over the disappearing Shadow servant. Slowly, gingerly, she reached up crossing her arm over her chest, wrapping her fingers around her broken arm, wincing as she did. Her white hair was stained, her exposed skin, like everyone else's, was leaned with spots, bruises, and smudges from the fight that had taken place. Then she turned away from the group, and headed towards the front door, trying to keep a sure footing as she went.

Ritsuka turned away, to focus on the task at hand.

I need to figure out what I'm going to say to her anyway.

The archer put his feet up, and Ritsuka was quick about healing spells, using the blessing the mystic code provided him. He was just wrapping up when he could hear that familiar voice back, like an old wound.

Medb huffed. "You know I should probably kill you for what you did." Medb's cheek was still red, but outside of the small little tarnishment, she looked untouched. Her hair was still perfect, her expression still sickening. She placed a hand on her hip.

Ritsuka looked sharply Robin.

"Go," He said quietly, as he shifted to stand back up, testing the weight on his sore feet.

Alter had pressed her expression into a line, the only thing she was relishing in, was the almost six centimeters of height she had on Medb. Her mouth was already twisting in irritation.

Medb seemed to smirk, standing a little straighter, and brushing dust off of Alter's unwounded shoulder. "But, I think you've suffered enough losses for one day." She seemed to look purposefully behind her at the rest of the wreckage.

She clenched her fist tightly together, her amber eyes searching, and took a deep breath. The only thing that kept her rooted in her spot was the sight of the rest of her followers that were waiting just around the corner. Alter's lip twisted.

The queen of Connacht laughed at the berserker.

Alter took half a step forward, "You bitch-"

"That's enough Alter." Ritsuka grabbed her hand.

She froze with the hand on her wrist, but she didn't look back at him. Alter had a strong suspicion of what she would see. Her lips twitched as she kept glaring at Medb. Trying to imagine the different ways she would wipe that smirk of hers away.

Ritsuka leaned in closer. "She's got help, and we're not in the best of shape." His other hand grabbed her shoulder. "That's enough."

Alter grit her teeth.

Medb laughed. "Ah, master, you should really just let her, It'll really save you the trouble."

He held onto Alter a little tighter.

The queen of Connacht waited a few seconds longer to see if Alter would fall for more of her goading. Then she laughed with mirth as she stepped away, flicking her fingers for her entourage of followers to following behind her.

Now, NOW its over.

Ritsuka let out a breath of relief, as he turned his attention fully back to the Alter servant.

She raised her arm, the one still stuck in his grasp. Her amber eyes still held fury enough in them to scorch the whole island to a blackened crisp. Alter then pointedly looked at his hand as if it were an affront.

He blinked, feeling his gut starting to churn with discomfort. Ritsuka let her go, lowering his hands.

Alter looked away from him, hugging her broken arm across her chest again, and started walking off towards the airport. All the while she didn't say a word, nor did she bother to look back.

#

Rtisuka, with Gudako's help, managed to summon the elder Medea, along with Medusa to help treat the wounds. At this time of day, nearing the end of the loop, Medea was the only healing capable caster they knew the exact location of.

She had the cowl over her head, nearly covering her eyes, and to shade her face from the sun. It was clear she didn't enjoy the heavily weighted article of clothing under the heat, but it was useful to block the sun. At the airport, when they were all seated finally. Medea spent a few moments going over the wounds of each servant and Ritsuaka before she finally began to do her healing.

She had a slight frown on her lips as she lifted Ritsuka's chin to look at his neck, and the cut that was there, that he'd completely missed. "You all look like shit." She said at last.

Medusa had her hands in her pockets, her voice deep. "Are you alright master?"

Ritsuka nodded. "Fine, we got into a scrap with Medb's cronies that's all."

Ushi huffed a laugh flexing an arm. "Yeah, you should see the other guys!"

"Tch." Medea made a noise but continued to work away. From the tips of fingers glowed a green light that seemed to wrap itself around his wounds, it seared with pain at first, but it quickly faded into something soothingly cool. "I imagine so. She's been parading around and ruining everyone's vacation week."

I know. We still could've been a little more cautious about the whole thing.

Alter stood apart from them, clutching her broken arm as she watched Medea work through healing everyone. If she was even getting a turn with the healing caster, she decided she would go last.

Ritsuka turned his eyes back to Medea, who gestured for him to open his shirt up. He unbuttoned it, and exposed the bruises on his chest.

Medea hummed, a little. "A little too close for comfort no?" The Grecian princess however didn't push the matter further, instead focusing on healing the damage that had been done. Her lips curled a little. "In any case, thanks. She was acting…" Her brow furrowed as she tried to look for the right words.

Medusa filled in for her. "She's been acting like Jason. Towards almost everyone. I've done my best to keep Medea way from all of it."

Medea's nostrils flared a little, but she seemed to slump a relaxed exhale out. "Yes," She agreed. Then she was finished and moved down the line to Ushi sitting next to Ritsuka.

Gudako had her arms folded as she watched.

Oh god, I still have to deal with that lecture.

Gudako wasn't looking at her brother though, instead, her eyes were boring a hole through Jeanne Alter. His sister, however, made no move towards the servant at the end of her gaze. She was holding her arm like she was holding in a long rant she wanted to give to her brother's servant.

He closed his eyes with a wince.

She'd made her promise to look after me.

Medea had wrapped up the healing and left with Medusa shortly after.

Through the healing of her broken arm, through Gudako's energetic angry lecture that had followed, through BB's scheduled interruption explaining that they needed to win in order to retrieve the holy grail, through the loop's final seconds as it all reset, Alter never once said a word, and never once looked her Master in the eye.

#

She blinked under the mid-morning sun, as the world had flashed a hot white with the reset. The worst part of it was that it no longer felt strange to her, the world resetting back a week. She glowered on the same tiled floor of the airport. The same with frayed paint on its corner, and stained black drop in the adjacent one.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid STUPID!

Alter grit her teeth.

Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

When the first loop had reset, Alter thought she would somehow get motion sickness, which would've been a first for a servant. Because she could feel the loop's reset scramble her like something chaotic. She pushed a hand to her forehead still feeling the dried blood stained in her hair, and around her eye.

A quick look at her body informed her that while all the wounds had healed, but all the dirt, drag marks, bruises, and dried blood were still in place. She huffed out an unsurprised sigh.

Just my luck.

She looked up to see that Ushi and Robin still had their cosmetic damage in place as well. In fact, with a sweeping gaze, the only person who seemed to be untouched by the fight was Mash, the shielder servant. But Alter knew that she didn't get much damage to begin with, having spent most of the fight protecting Ritsuka from Medb's flunkies.

A frown curled on her lip

A job I most of all should've been doing.

Ritsuka broke the uncomfortable defeated silence with a slight laugh. "Perhaps we should hit the beach showers after we talk to Black Beard? Wash all this off before we check-in."

Mash nodded. "Good thinking."

Master's pet.

Shut up.

But at least she does her job.

Shut up!

The headache was pounding again and she silently nodded in agreement as everyone else gave their ascents. She took up the end of the group as they finally made their way out to the docks where they would encounter Black Beard. Alter despite herself, still managed to listen out for any changes in the conversation that was all but rehearsed.

The only difference was that Black Beard had told them they all looked like shit. And then back-peddled hard because he let slip that he still thought all the grime and dust made the girls look hot.

Jeanne Alter took only the slightest bits of pleasure in watching him dig his grave further.

Gudako had parted ways soon after, citing that she had a lead to look into on her end of things, but needed to consult with Medea and Medusa first. That chatting with them had given her an idea. She left a promise that she would stop by later.

And just before she departed, she and Alter exchanged looks once again. Her expression was harsh, but not filled with the ire it had been earlier. While she didn't apologize, she bowed her head towards Alter.

The showers at the beach were placed where the sand turned into concrete. Some were indoors, in bathroom huts meant for the normal length of showers where one removed clothes and washed their hair. But the most used ones were the outdoor showers, used for just getting the sand and saltwater off hair, arms, and legs to avoid dirtying cars and other means of transportation.

There were metal square poles sticking out from the ground, over four large drains. Four showerheads to each face of the pole.

Ritsuka took the one closest to the beachside, huffing a little at the cool water in the late morning sun, removing his shirt to hold at arm's length.

Mash and Robin took adjacent spots.

Ushi and Alter had exchanged only a glance, but before any words could've been said between them, she moved off to a different shower pole, leaving Alter the last spot among the group of four.

Alter looked off at one of the buildings looking at herself in the mirror, at the same time some pedestrians had some sharp inhales looking at her.

At us. They don't look all that much better.

She'd felt the stains in her hair like a dried liquid, but now she could actually see it. The hair above her right eye was blood red, and that blood had trickled down, to cover her brow, eye socket, and the top of her cheek, with only one thin fading line that had run down her cheek. Her left cheek had a purple-black bruise in place, making it slightly puffier than the other. And like Master, she'd had a busted lip, now more a stain than a wound.

Her shoulders were covered with leftover stains and cuts from bruises, all the way down to her chest. Her two-piece swimsuit did little to hide the dirt and muck that had gathered around her chest. Her legs were in nearly as bad a shape as Robins had been.

With a breath Alter stepped into the shower, and pushed the button with her wrist. Instantly the shower responded, the water having a cool touch to her skin, as she looked directly into the showerhead for a second, enjoying the cool sensation against her skin. Almost relishing in it as she closed her eyes. She dipped her hair in fluffing it all out, trying to get the black ichory stains out first. Then the blood-red on her right, that had caked her eye.

It swelled her with relief, as the crusted blood of her lip was wiped away. Her smile didn't linger as she slid her face between her arms and shoulders, leaning herself up against the shower, letting the water roll over her back next.

She'd been the last to start, so she was the last to finish. A chance glance to the other side of the pole showed Ritsuka backing out of the shower, and shaking off the water. He stuck his shirt in separately, so he could focus on getting out whatever dirt stains had been present. Then he slid it on now that both he and it were thoroughly soaked.

Amber eyes flicked away, narrowing with thought, as she watched the other two around her leave their respective spots. She looked up into the running water one last time before she pressed the button again, shutting it off. With a huff, she turned away and started running her fingers through her hair.

On the way over to the room she checked the scribbles she'd kept in her on-hand notebook. She almost cursed upon the entree she'd found at random, the notes from their improvised dialogue together.

Disgust filled her, and she slammed her notebook closed, trying to focus on the positive.

Personal items reset with us.

Want to look at your failure again?

Alter scowled, her nostrils dilating, and she instead curled her fingers into fists in order to avoid grinding her teeth. "Stop it." She whispered against the distant sound of crashing waves, and the bustling of traffic to one side. Suddenly the berserker blinked with awareness, as they entered the hotel. Amber eyes almost instantly finding the source of her disturbance.

Ritsuka was looking at her, his lips were pressed into a line.

Anger? Disappointment?

Ultimately she settled on the fact that he looked worried. That he looked very uncertain of things.

Her lip twisted further, as she glared at him right back into his blue eyes. Fingers still curled into fists, as she wrinkled her nose. More than that, she had half a mind to storm right up to him and punch him like she had Medb.

It's his fault.

His fault.

Her master blinked, as if suddenly aware of the direction of some of her hostility. Worry creased his expression further, but ultimately not wanting to meet her eyes, he turned away and focused on Mordred as they approached the front desk for check-in.

Alter huffed as he looked away, somewhere between satisfaction at her success and surprise that she'd gotten what she wanted.

Soon enough they arrived at the hotel room, and once again everyone dropped off their bags, only Ritsuka handed his, and his sister's bags off to Robin.

The archer smiled, and bowed his head, heading off their other room with a light jog.

A warning bell went off in the back of Jeanne Alter's mind. She grit her teeth in anger and made a noise of restrained effort.

Ushi blinked head spinning towards Alter. Her eyes widening as she slowly became aware of the mana rolling off Alter's form, like water splashing continuously over rocks.

Don't you dare.

She clenched her teeth, nails digging into her palms.

Not now.

Ritsuka cleared his throat for the room. "Uh? Can everyone give me an Alter a moment?" He still sounded vaguely uncertain.

Ushiwakamaru nodded slowly a few times. The assassin leaned her head to the side trying to catch a glimpse of Alter's face, even though she could observe the anger almost pouring out with the mana. She'd caught her Master's request for privacy, and eventually, she caught the corner of Alter's eyes.

She almost flinched, when Alter turned her head towards her to stare at her directly. as if daring her to be the centerpiece of whenever she lashed out next.

Ushi looked towards the door, uncertainty in her voice. "Master?"

Ritsuka nodded, "We'll be fine."

Mash's concerns were silent as she pushed past Ritsuka towards the door once more.

He just nodded an affirmation to her, pushing his lips together, not sure how best to start. He was only temporarily brought back out of his thoughts again when Ushi gripped his shoulder and looked back at Alter.

Ushi's lip twitched. "Be careful…" The assassin said.

Ritsuka nodded quietly again, and hadn't taken a step towards either Alter or further into the room until he heard the door click closed behind them. Weight filled his chest with each step he took into the room, looking around once again at the cleanliness of it all, partially comparing it with the lived-in touch that it had when they packed to leave for the last time every loop. He cleared his throat a little. "I…" He let out a quiet sigh. "Uh? I get the impression we should probably talk…"

Probably?

Probably?!

In a swift motion Alter grabbed a chair and threw at the balcony's glass door, hard enough for the window to crack. The restraint was shown in that, if she'd used her servant energy, both the window and the chair would've been broken.

Ritsuka's mouth formed a frown.

And all the fury showed on Alter's face when she met his gaze but she didn't say a word to him. She whipped her head back around looking out once again towards the beach.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid.

Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.

Alter slammed the palm of her hand against her forehead with a crack. Mouthing a silent plea for it to stop. And for once it did. It was quiet in the room with her master, her focus sharpened, her senses heightened, as she could smell faintly that same hotel hair products Ritsuka used while he was here to shower. If it were any other time, she would've relished in the temporary silence of her mind.

Her amber eyes flicked to him, fury still written on her face.

Ritsuka took a few tentative steps towards the bed on the window side. He swallowed hard whatever the first thing he wanted to say had been. Then he outstretched his palm towards the bed, gesturing for Alter to join him. He sat down half facing towards her.

Alter's lip twisted, and she sat down with her back to him, instead facing the beach view their hotel rooms granted them.

She heard him sigh a little from behind her. "I suppose I'll start with the basic question of your injuries." She could almost feel his eyes appraising her. "Are you okay? You took more than one of the bigger hits?"

Alter in response stretched her formerly broken arm as if testing it. "It's fine. Medea got most of it." She looked down at herself again, she had one lingering cut on her hip, still faintly stinging from the shower she'd taken at the beach to wash off the muck of the fight. She ran her fingers around the edge of it. Her mouth suddenly twisted before she could get distracted any further. "Just ask it, Master." She said, nearly spitting out the last word.

The berserker servant didn't look back around to see him as she heard him shift slightly. In the window's reflection, he sat with his back to her now too, hanging over his knees a little.

Ask it.

Ritsuja seemed to take a deep breath. "I won't ask you why you hit Medb…" he said slowly, as carefully as he could manage. A sign he once again recognized that it was thin ice he was traversing. "I mean, the reason as to why you hit her should be obvious, and I...don't think that's the full part of the problem."

Her eyes narrowed a little. "Isn't it though?"

Chaldea's master huffed out a few chuckles, trying to inject just the briefest bits of levity into the situation. Something normally Alter wouldn't have minded. In fact, more often than not she could find it somewhat endearing. As part of her Master's will to always find something good in a horrible situation.

But not today.

For Alter, it felt like it added oil to an already simmering fire.

Ritsuka continued, "I mean it feels like it's only a part of the reason." He folded his fingers together, falling quieter. "At least, I don't think it's fully related as to why you're feeling angry towards me…" He trailed off as if he was trying to search for the words.

We promised transparency, didn't we? Honesty?

A part of found it was almost fateful that this would be their first honest thing she wanted to say to him. Not the dancing around one another that had happened while they worked in the last loop. Where everyone had egged her on to be more honest with her emotions that weren't anger. Now to fall into such certainty that anger was the only thing she was feeling. A cruel twist in its irony filled with hate.

"It's your fault." She said at last before she could think to close her mouth.

His confusion was genuine, and like how she could smell the hotel's hair products on him, she could feel him tense on the other side of the bed. "What?"

Her lip twisted again, nostrils flaring. "I said, it's your fucking fault."

Ritsuka was still very clearly confused, as he looked at her over his shoulder. "I…" He paused, falling silent again like he was trying to organize his thoughts. "You can't surely be blaming me for the Medb fight?" His brow furrowed further as a second idea had come to him. This one is a little closer to the truth. Ice slipped into his tone, not like the implication. "Are you saying it's my fault we lost?"

"No!" She curled her fist slammed it against the bed. Alter whirled around to glare into Ritsuka's blue eyes. "Of course it's not your fault regarding Medb." She huffed and put a hand on her chest. "I'm very clearly responsible for that." Her eyes narrowed. "I even apologized for it, repeatedly…" Her jaw clenched. "It's your fault-"

For making me care.

It was a near thing that it had almost slipped out, she'd barely managed to reign it in. At least for half a second, like she wanted to make sure she said it right. "You made me care!"

His confusion only spurred her further.

"And it's not just you!" She pointed towards the door. "Every single one of you pushed me to put everything I had into the stupid doujin. The same stupid doujin we all thought wouldn't stand a fucking chance in hell." Alter curled her fingers into her hair. "GAH! Stupid, I'm so stupid!" She resisted the urge to rip out her hair. "And you know what?! This is what I get for putting everything I had into that shitty knock-off failure of a story. The story we knew was doomed from the start. This is what I get for caring, my fucking reward."

Working from the heart? What a joke.

Her master had rightfully fallen silent, wishing with almost desperation he could be as smooth as he'd been in that last loop. Because sometimes, he could say the right things to calm her, he could say the right thing to calm her.

But his mind blanked. No ideas, nothing calm to say, no words of wisdom, or promises of a better tomorrow. Not even a soothing noise.

Rtisuka wanted to reach out and hold her hand, so he'd only just started the movement, only half reaching up towards her.

Alter didn't notice, turning away, and stood up with a huff. "I get to try again. Put my heart into something again."

Suffer through it again.

The confusion was gone, only a solemn, hollowed understanding remained. "We made you think it was possible to win."

"No." She said icily. "You made me think it was possible to win." Her lip twisted. "They made me think I could win if I just…" Alter huffed a little. "Tried harder. Cared about it more." A quiet curse slipped out between breaths. "Lot of good it did us." She grunted as she grit her teeth again. "And you just keep carrying on. Even though you were clearly angry at me after the fight."

Ritsuka's lip twitched. "I should've accepted your apology...or said anything to comfort you after the fight." Suddenly he grew sullen with the darkened thoughts. "But you are right in that I was...disappointed in you."

Not that it mattered for this anyway.

"Finally he admits it!" She said with a mocking chuckle. "I'm not apologizing anymore." Alter's mouth furled as she looked at her Master's reflection in the window. "Consider it rescinded, Bitch deserved it." She turned towards him. "And your comfort?" With a huff, she waved him off with a gesture. "Wasn't what I wanted or needed. It would've made me feel worse than I do now."

His eyes narrowed, and he tensed again. "Why's that?"

"Agh!" The growl escaped her lips with exasperation. She wanted to rip her hair out again as she slammed the palms of both her hands against her face, and then whirled around to him. "Because you got me to fucking care!" She pressed her lips together, as she glared daggers at him. "You would've only made me care about it more! Probably even guilty! Which is the last thing I need or want to feel."

Ritsuka stood up. "Is that such a bad thing!"

"If I feel like I lost something every time, then yes!" She bit back a small snarl, her amber eyes falling to the doorway. Spotting her packed duffles in the hallway across from the bathroom doorway. "Fuck. You are all on your own for this loop." Alter released the grip of her fingers on her hair. Something painful tugged at the corners of her heart. She huffed and looked away. "I need a break."

A silence had fallen over the room as Alter's fingers slid away from her face and lips. She took several deep breaths into that silence as if almost testing to see if that painful feeling in her heart would worsen. It did, like the longer she was waiting to leave the more painful it grew. Alter almost grit her teeth as a sign of visible annoyance.

He's going to try and get me to stay.

She almost winced at the thought in the silence. Her courage gathered, she finally looked up to meet her master's expression.

Ritsuka had gotten very good over the last year, hunting down singularities, dealing with enemies, and hiding his real thoughts and expression. None was ever so painfully evident than at that moment. His jaw was tightened, his blue eyes wide, a touch of wounding pain in them, as he looked away. But outside of that, his face was placid, as if nothing was happening. His voice was low, rough, and scratchy. "You shouldn't-" He closed his mouth, then tried again. "I mean we need you."

She shook her head, "No you don't. You never did…" Alter's lip twisted slightly, and then she reached down. Quietly, she righted the chair back onto its wheels and started for the door.

Ritsuka was slow to move, but he did move, he moved at first to stand in front of her. "Wait-" He held his hands up in surrender as if he didn't want to touch her.

Alter still brushed past him, eyes narrowing towards him. "I'm leaving." She said firmly.

He caught her hand at near arm's length, tugging to hold her. This time his voice was near pleading when he spoke. "Can't you just hear me out?" He tried to intertwine their fingers, their proximity was still close.

The berserker gave a tug to her arm and wrist to try and free it. Alter's annoyance flared a little. She was leaving, and that was that. "Let me go," Her own plea came to her lips.

She could feel him tense slightly at the sound of her voice. His grip loosened, but he still hadn't let go.

So she turned and pushed him off against his chest.

And sent him across the room.

The headboard of the bed cracked. "AH!" He grabbed his shoulder, his blue eyes widened as he stared at her. He squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to bite back the pain coursing through his body. He writhed and convulsed as he tried sitting up.

Alter looked at her outstretched hand in horror, eyes widening. "I-" She flexed her fingers, pulling it back into her chest, holding onto the arm's wrist as if it were about to do the same thing twice. Feeling the sudden wave of guilt, as skin bunched around her eyes, and shame as her chin trembled. "I have to go!" She ran for the door, grabbing her duffles.

The door slammed open as she approached.

Ushi was there, hands on her sword, but not drawn. She instead chose to hold up her hands. "Hey what did you-?!"

Alter shoulder checked her as she bounded through the doorway, shoving her out of the wave with speed. She didn't linger either as she practically ran towards the floor's stairwell.

The assassin grit her teeth, eyes narrowing towards Alter's back, she half stood rubbing where she'd been hit. Her other hand fell to her sword again.

Mash gasped.

"In here!" She could hear her master shout as she squeezed her eyes closed, bounding around the corner. Alter wanted to hate him for it, but he was doing her a favor she knew. His call for their direct attention prevented them from coming after her.

"Stop caring." She cursed.

My fault.

His fault.

Alter missed whatever he'd said next, as the door to the stairwell closed behind her, and she leaped down the flights, her shoulder slamming into the wall, each time she'd landed.

#

It was a dinky part of the town. Somehow that didn't surprise her in the slightest. Alter's nose wrinkled at the sight and smell of it all. The stone and wood had mold growing up and through the cracks and the outside. Her sword formed as immediately as she'd heard the oversized crab bounding towards her.

A quick slice splattered it into death.

She puffed out her cheeks, and pressed on. Alter gave a quick glance to her hip, the cut that had been there earlier during that early afternoon crisis.

After running, she'd made a day of asking around. Perching from the edge of the building as she looked for clues and people. It had taken her less than an hour to find who she was looking for. And the rest of the day to convince herself that it would only be for one night while thinking of much better other plans that she should be doing instead, that she would implement tomorrow.

Try to implement it tomorrow at least.

She mouthed another curse, as she heard yet another crab springing towards her. Alter whirled her sword into a ready position, waiting to strike it out of existence. Her mouth pressing into a twisted line.

Then a tentacle urchin, more muscle than brains, leaped up and out of the wet sand wrapping itself around the crab. Rows of teeth in its circular mouth bit down, into the flesh under the crab, as the thick tentacles wrapped around the crab's shell, crunching it in close, snapping its spine. The limbs of the crab were suctioned to its tentacles so it couldn't wiggle free, squealing as it died.

Alter let out another breath as crickets sounded, stepping through a broken wooden fence into the courtyard of a rundown estate.

Living in luxury again.

In the center was a fountain, and her breath caught in her throat.

A dozen or more of his tentacle creature familiars appeared out from behind bushes, pulling themselves out from the center old, broken, and rotted fountain. Alter looked back around behind her, to see two, in the way of the hole in the fence she'd come through.

Her fingers flexed open and closed on her bag's straps.

Just for tonight.

A path formed through the rows of dozens, as they slithered and skittered to either side, forming along the estate's rotten roadway, all the way up to the door. The small one-floor large wooden house, with lights glowing yellow in the dark from inside.

Slowly Alter made her way forward, the door opening as she approached, another creature having unlocked it, and opening it for her. From the inside, she could hear music playing, some old classical jazz.

The house looked clean despite the rundown look it had, the yellow wood beneath her feet fading and discolored from years of misuse. A couch with holes, and to her left, the kitchen and the sound of movement.

She took a deep breath as she walked through the doorway. "Gilles?" She asked as she spotted him in his blue and purple robes, loitering around some boiling pots at the cooking station. She could see rows of spices, and the carcass of a crab hanging from a wire, still dripping blood onto the floor. "I need a place to stay...just for the night."

He turned, his lazy eyes seeming to roll themselves onto her. "Of course my dear Jeanne!" He half bowed. "Whatever you need, I shall be of service."

It was already almost enough to make her puke. She tossed her duffles onto the couch and shoved away all those dark thoughts that were creeping up the corners of her mind. Instead choosing to focus on the sound of the music. She took a deep breath, as she opened her eyes. A carefully constructed feigned smile coming to her lips.

Alter placed a hand on her lips, widening her smile just a bit. Her eyes went to the window, where she saw several urchins peering in to look at them. Then back to Gilles. "Alright, what's for dinner?"

###