The topography of Italy where the city of Rome was situated primarily consisted of various hills and flat plains. While Ritsuka's team ventured north to the Gaelic lands, Shirou's group was moving down the Appian way in the direction of Brundisium where Caeser reported a buildup of enemy forces.
They traveled on a horse drawn carriage reinforced by Shirou to modify its ability to carry passengers. Weight was distributed more evenly to ease the burden on the horses while a coachman directed the horses from the front. Everyone else was seated in the interior where a cold war of nerves and tension was brewing.
Peace was tenuous at best.
Arthur sat on the extreme right end of the carriage, distancing himself as far away as he could while maintaining a flat expression. His arms were crossed, and his gaze trained on the passing scenery as if it could really detract away from the suffocating pressure in the air.
It didn't.
Arthur was too good for that. Gaze focused outside or not, his senses gave him a full grasp of his surroundings whether he was looking at it or not.
On the extreme left of the carriage was Saber Alter whose form and posture perfectly mirrored Arthur's own. The only difference was her short stature, the coloration of her armor and dress, and that she was a woman. Everything else was the same in regards to honor, chivalry, duty. The moral difference was that Saber Alter wasn't above resorting to tyranny and bloodshed to maintain order and prosperity.
Even with Shirou in the carriage, Saber Alter's mood was palpable at worst and simmering at best. Her gaze focused on anywhere but Arthur to prevent barbs from being thrown the entire journey. Shakespeare hadn't been helping with that dubious gleam in his eyes, and the constant scrawling noise of his ink pen over a blank script.
The consent of Shakespeare's script could be readily imagined to pertain to their very circumstances added with the famed writer's nuanced twists, but the last straw was drawn when Shakespeare's muttering about adding 'Arthur' as a potential love rival into the mix was heard.
As technical King over Shakespeare, Saber Alter and Arthur both ordered the trouble maker to ride with the coachman outside.
Though this didn't mean that the troubles were over.
Jeanne Alter was aggravating Saber Alter with the way she kept chuckling under her breath at her.
However, Jeanne Alter's amusement was rather short lived because of Jeanne who persistently sat next to her, curious about the 'joke' Jeanne Alter found so funny but was refusing to share. The irony was not lost on anyone that Jeanne and Saber Alter were suffering from the exact same situations.
It was just their way of coping and bearing with it was different.
Saber Alter was flat out rejection, and Arthur was more than willing to oblige.
Jeanne Alter was also rejection, but Jeanne was practically oblivious to it and kept sticking to her like a loon.
The seating was Arthur and Saber Alter on polar opposites of each other, and Jeanne and Jeanne Alter on one row of the carriage, while Shirou sat on the other row of the carriage with Martha.
Yes. Martha came along on her own initiative, needlessly worried about Jeanne.
And now, Martha had bigger problems while realizing the gravity of the team dynamic. It was so awful that it was easy to imagine Saber Alter and Arthur going off on her their own, and Jeanne Alter pushing Jeanne out as a human shield.
Clearly, Martha wasn't the only one thinking the same thing, because she could see that Shirou's expression wasn't so great either.
In the tension between the alternate Servants, Nero was playing it all up with growing interest. Her legs bobbed as the seat she was sitting on was high enough that her feet could barely touch the ground…and of course she innocently chose to sit next to Shirou's right.
Jeanne and Saber Alter's eyes were already watching Nero with suspicion.
Martha took a breath, and tried to play peacemaker despite beads of sweat forming over Shirou's brow.
Martha cleared her throat, and tried to get support from Shirou through silent eye contact, ignorant that she too was under scrutiny for occupying the seat on Shirou's left.
More than aware of his Servant's own tendencies, Shirou tried to shake his head at her, but Martha thought it was cowardly and resolved to do it herself if need be.
"Ahem, if I could have everyone's attention," Martha said, shooting Shirou a glare when he hunched his shoulders in defeat. Thereafter, she turned her attention back on everyone else with a feeling of righteous comradery and earnest sentiment. "What we have to do is…t-try to get along?"
Jeanne Alter, Saber Alter, and Arthur were not smiling.
Even Martha balked under the combined stares of the pair of counterparts. Jeanne was the sole beacon of light in the dark, nodding her head in agreement with Martha who barely got the words out under the pressure.
"P-Please?" Martha said in a small voice.
"Am I the one who should be asked that?" Arthur asked calmly.
Martha thought about it, and naively found herself nodding. Arthur's reputation preceded him. "True-"
"Got a problem with me, bitch?" Jeanne Alter did not waste a second to interject, but Saber Alter acted above that and was flat out glaring.
"Sister, no!" Jeanne was up-in-arms right in front of Jeanne Alter's face, pointedly chastising her. "You should know better under the lord's grace not to judge and belittle others!"
"Who the fuck's your sister?!" Jeanne Alter began bickering immediately. "I told you to stop saying that!"
"I left home early, but is this what mother meant by a younger sister's rebellious phase?" Jeanne murmured, disheartened.
"Oh my God, does it not get through that thick head?!" Jeanne Alter screamed.
"Do not take the Lord's name in vain!" Jeanne fired back just as heatedly.
Suddenly, it was as if Martha had never spoken up to begin with, the carriage devolving into bickering and hostile glares.
"Umu, a great journey requires great friends," Nero nodded.
Martha blinked, staring at Nero in disbelief. "D-Do they look like friends to you?"
"Friends are those who don't stab you in the back!" Nero nodded sagely. She'd learned from the history of former Roman Emperors. "They don't look the sort. A jolly lot!"
.
.
.
"L-Lord give me strength." Martha suddenly started fervently praying, clasping her hands together at the uncertainty of their mission's success.
Subtly, Martha turned to Shirou who was also in a similar position to herself and was in clear need of divine direction to prevent this powder keg from exploding.
Shakily, she grabbed his hands and then clasped them together with her own.
"...Lord give us strength!" She cried with the passion of a devout Christian as she did the calculations in her head.
'Our fists aren't enough!'
The horses grew tired before anyone knew it, and the group had no choice but to break for camp. Not all of Rome's terrain were hills, and the group soon found a suitable and flat location at the base of a grove of olive trees.
While the horse driver tended to the horses, the rest of the group gathered together for a short discussion.
The aim of the group was to intercept the enemy forces led by the mad Emperor Caligula in the south while Ristuka recruited help in the north. If Caesar's information was correct and Romulus was the true enemy, then they were going to need all the support that they could muster.
"Alright, lets focus." Martha stressed, continuing off from her failed endeavor by preventing Alters and Arthur from splitting off. "...ugh, this shouldn't even be my job."
Glancing at Shirou who started whistling on the side, Martha curled her lips at him before clapping her cheeks and getting her head in the game.
Honestly, Shirou's un-involvement was likely the smartest option. If he took a side, the tenuous interpersonal relationships within the group could immediately fracture.
Side with Arthur, piss off Saber Alter.
Side with Saber Alter, Arthur splits and does his own thing.
Side with Jeanne Alter, and Saber Alter pulls out the sword.
Nero was the safe choice to side with, but Martha worried, glancing uneasily at Shirou's playboy face (In Martha's view).
Worse, Jeanne Alter would only catalyze any detrimental reactions. This entire group practically screamed neutral chaos!
"This is not going to work." Martha decided to stand her ground. "It's unhealthy. We're better off watching our backs than leaving it open to our comrades."
"Backstabbers are no friends." Nero agreed readily.
"I say that's a merry lot." Jeanne Alter chipped in. "You can't trust anybody-"
"Then you don't trust, Shirou?" Jeanne suddenly asked, parroting Jeanne Alter's statement with a question of her own.
"Ack," Jeanne Alter grimaced, choosing to keep silent as Jeanne continued to counter her.
Subtly, Jeanne raised a thumbs up to Martha who nodded back.
In contrast, Shirou caught Saber Alter's attention.
"Saber…" he implored, playing his part in Martha's impromptu alliance.
Saber Alter scowled, but stopped herself from tuning out Martha and walking away.
With the variables somewhat taken care of, Martha focused on Arthur who raised a brow at her. He didn't have his guard up against her or Jeanne, though their reputation as Saints was a large factor.
Before Arthur could react, Martha boldly took his hand, hesitated at Saber Alter's, but still grabbed it, before then clasping their hands together in a bid for meaningful peace.
"Can you feel that?" Martha said in the silence, putting on an encouraging smile.
Hands.
Human warmth and compassion felt through the fingertips. The person before you is neither a monster nor an enemy, but a friend just like you.
"You mean the curse of a witch that flows through her?" Arthur replied tonelessly.
"Or the urge to gut?" Saber Alter fired back.
"NO!" Martha screamed, appalled. "Human! You're both people!"
"Part Dragon actually," Arthur corrected. "It's why I can feel the depths of the depravity she drowned herself in to taint a Holy Sword black!"
"And I can feel your hypocrisy!" Saber Alter seethed. "You think I can't tell?"
"ENOUGH!" Martha's patience was running thin. Human? Dragon?
"Don't make me call Tarasque! If I tamed him, then I can tame you both! I'll show you the might of Jacob's limbs!"
Oddly, it wasn't the scepter that Martha had equipped that flared with her magic energy, but her fists instead.
Arthur and Saber Alter's expressions hardened.
Like it or not, there was truth in Martha's words, and the aspect in her legend pertaining to Dragons empowered her against Dragon types.
Those fists were bound to hurt.
Although Arthur and Saber Alter said nothing, their eyes said it all as they glared at each other.
A temporary truce.
There will be no pettiness amid the battlefield.
Jeanne Alter sighed at the result, but Martha huffed, irked that the threat of violence had to be the answer again rather than the Lord's grace and mercy.
Meanwhile, Nero blushed as her stomach suddenly growled.
Besides Martha, in a group of Saber faces, it was sometimes understandable that you'd forget that Nero was still a human among them.
Hunger was the enemy.
Nodding his head, Shirou got up and moved toward the provision bags they'd brought from Rome.
"I'll make food," he offered. "You guys start making camp."
After acquiring his food ingredients, a fire was what Shirou made first. Thereafter, he started sorting through what was on hand and decided to make a hearty stew using herbs and spices. There were plenty of tomatoes, so he used that as a base for the soup.
Nero watched over his shoulders with interest as she'd never quite seen the type of food he was making.
Even Arthur was soon drawn by the smell, Saber Alter gloating at Arthur for an achievement that wasn't even her own.
In the end, when Shirou finished cooking and glanced up, he was surrounded by the expectant gazes of everyone despite Nero and him being the only one who needed food to sustain themselves.
Opening and closing his mouth, Shirou prepared bowls and poured the stew into one of them before giving the first to Arthur, then Jeanne, and then to Martha.
It was on the fourth bowl that Shirou found himself at an impasse and froze.
He stared at Saber Alter, Jeanne Alter, and Nero; they stared back at him to determine who he'd give the first plate of food to between them.
Nero was expectant, Saber Alter was assured, and Jeanne Alter was biting her lips, realizing she may have been disadvantaged.
Shirou's mouth dried at the choice he'd have to make, the result of which would likely wedge a gap into Martha's hard fought peace.
"Jeanne, could I bother you to hand out the food?" Shirou asked, seeking salvation.
The Saint answered.
"Oh, ah, sure!" Jeanne was more than happy to help, ignorant of the silent war that just played out between the Alters.
The other Saint was more observant.
"Tch." Martha clicked her tongue, barely able to resist the urge to spit in the ground in contempt as she had watched. "It's a sin. A Sin."
Now that the immediate fire of Saber Alter and Arthur was put out, Martha was reminded of the other growing poison.
Shirou could suddenly feel Martha's judging eyes as Saber Alter, Jeanne Alter, and Nero all sat around him by the campfire.
In contrast, Arthur and Jeanne's stares were more ambiguous than anything else.
Shirou's lip twitched as he looked at Martha with a stunned silence.
'I thought we prayed together?' He mouthed at Martha while scooping food into bowls using a ladle. 'Weren't we allies?'
'I forgot your true nature.' Martha mouthed back as Jeanne merrily started handing the food to the others. '…You Snake of the forbidden fruit!'
'What is that even supposed to-'
Shirou squirmed, brow beginning to twitch incessantly as something clicked, and he understood Martha's perspective as a devout woman.
He opened his mouth in protest, but by then, Nero had eaten her stew too fast and finished before she even knew it. It was too tasty and had more than satisfied her hunger.
Spirits raised from a good meal, Nero could not bring herself to sit still.
"Let us sing and dance Praetor! Nothing's as boring as a quiet campsite!"
Nero grabbed Shirou by the hand and dragged him along under Martha's eyes.
If anything, the look Martha was shooting at Shirou only grew more and more contemptuous as both Jeanne and Saber Alter were scowling at Nero.
'N-No wait! There was a real misunderstanding here!' Shirou mouthed desperately to Martha.
She wouldn't hear it.
Martha huffed, moving to shield Jeanne from ever being tainted by filth. True love could not be marred on her watch.
Sieg would cry, and as a saint and fellow Servant of the same Master, she must protect those innocent tears!
She'd been right to come!
/-/
-With the horse driver.
Shakespeare hung his head and prodded the ground with a finger.
"...I think I've been forgotten?"
Oh the misery.
He was missing all the content!
They were approaching Brundisium, but they didn't directly reach the city before fresh traces of an army camp were spotted.
Disembarking from the carriage, the group decided to move the rest of the way on foot to remain inconspicuous. However, they kept the horses save for one to allow the coachman a means to return up the Appian way.
Shirou and Nero were the ones to mount the other two horses, as they were the only humans in the group of Servants. Shirou could keep up with Reinforcement, but it was an unnecessary strain on his magic reserves to constantly maintain.
Due to the limitations of the current era, following the traces left behind by the army was easier than expected. Not all Roman soldiers could afford a chariot or even a horse, so many would have been on foot. Multiplied by a couple hundred soldiers, and the footprints left over the foothills, and there was no way Shirou and the others couldn't follow.
Just to be safe, Shirou had the Servants scout ahead as he lingered back to guard Nero.
"U–Umu," Nero found her eyes widening as she looked at Arthur, Saber Alter, the Jeannes, and Martha all bolt ahead. "They're faster than horses. I'm only able to do that on a good day. Is this what you meant by Servants? I should gather them and have them compete in an Olympic tournament!"
"Servants aren't just gifted in physical strength," Shirou explained patiently, watching Nero's light with child-like wonder. "They are heroes and figures in history in their own right. Warriors, prophets, and people of great renown eternalized in legend."
"I see," Nero said, suddenly beaming with enthusiasm as she steadied her grip on her horse's reins.
"You look happy," Shirou observed, inwardly growing relieved. Compared to how Nero had been before, she was gradually exiting her slump. The antics over the journey must have also helped ease her.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Nero craned her chin. "You're complimenting me."
Shirou's thoughts didn't quite make the connection, and he sort of just let the silence hang in his confusion.
"The other me!" Nero pouted. "You said Servants are outside of time, but that's obviously me! I clearly become one of those Heroic Spirits which means I am destined for achievement in my Rome!"
If it was put that way, it sounded reasonable.
Shirou decided not to explain the aspect of Alters to Nero in a bid to augment her mental health. "You are correct, emperor Nero."
"Umu, of course I am." The edges of Nero's mouth curled up into a grin.
The two settled into an ambitious atmosphere despite the pressing nature of their task. Be that as it may, the bubble was meant to pop, as Servants far outstripped the regular limitations of the human body.
It wasn't long, but Jeanne was the first to return with her findings. The fact that Jeanne Alter wasn't with her must have meant the errant Alter had broken off on her own.
"We've spotted them," Jeanne declared, breaking the mood.
Nero's reaction was telling, and Shirou quickly noticed as he knew the precarious state of her mental health. She was basically standing by the ledge of a cliff, already.
"Are you alright?" Shirou asked Nero.
On the side, Jeanne stayed quiet as she clued in that Nero was having troubles of some sort.
"Hmph, do you doubt me?" Nero was quick to grow defensive. She glared at him, urging her horse to match pace with Shirou's "Umu, you take it back. It is most displeasing!"
"You're sweating, and your complexion isn't good," Shirou said in concern.
"I'm a born actor." Nero blustered, gesticulating with her hands and nimbly maintaining balance on her horse with her thighs alone. "I scare even myself."
Shirou glanced at Nero, and saw her biting on her lips. He quickly decided that it wasn't worth pressing her when a battle was likely waiting for them.
"Right," Shirou agreed with Nero, her strained expression easing somewhat.
After Jeanne, Marth, Jeanne Alter, Saber Alter, and finally Arthur returned.
Under Jeanne's lead, it wasn't long before the group advanced on the enemy army. Logistics of an army made it impossible for the army to move faster than the smaller unit Shirou's group consisted of.
Sure enough, Jeanne made the signal to wait before the echo of marching steps and clanking armor reverberated through the air. An army could be seen just over the hill, Shirou and the others concealing themselves in a small outcropping of trees.
A distinct figure could be seen leading them over the front.
Red mantle, crazed eyes, and fierceness that belied the temperament of a Berserker.
Nero had stopped speaking the closer and closer they drew, and now, all that was left in her expression was resignation.
"Uncle…" She murmured.
It really was.
Thanks for reading!
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