I stared in disbelief at the newcomer. After all, it wasn't everyday that you saw someone in person who you heard about in your textbook from your American History class, now, was it?
…Well, technically yes considering I worked at Chaldea and alongside Heroic Spirits, but that wasn't the point. I kept quiet, though, feeling more than a little awkward. While he wasn't from the time that I was from, his people and the ancestors of my countrymen hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms.
Hell, they hadn't even parted on friendly terms!
"Are you here to free us, then?" Atalante inquired, her arms crossed. The newcomer nodded, coming closer to the cell door and letting me get an even better view of an American legend.
Our visitor had dark skin that indicated his ethnicity as a Native American, but also bore the markings of a life spent mostly outdoors. He had long, black hair that was braided, and around the crown of his head was a peculiar-looking circlet of what seemed to be wood. Unnaturally pale blue eyes stared at us, filled with scrutiny and intelligence. A thin white line of paint trailed down the center of his body, starting at the tip of his forehead and disappearing at his waist, where a broad white sash protected his stomach and hips. His arms also had some simple white lines on them.
He wore a short-sleeved vest of sorts that seemed to be made of tanned leather. Around the collar and up to his upper shoulders it had been dyed a bright, regal-looking crimson. From there, the color shifted to a more natural tan, though a circle of black bars marked a transition area, though if they held any significant meaning, it was unfortunately lost on me.
In one hand, he carried a knife that was somehow equal parts ornate and simple, though he didn't look to be of the inclination to slit our throats. My eyes remained focused on his face, however. The face of a warrior.
Without a word, he crouched at the cell lock and began chanting in an unfamiliar language for a few minutes. I felt the air shift slightly, and he stood up, gripping the door and pulling. "There," he grunted. "That should do it."
"Who on earth are you?" Mash asked politely, if a bit nervously, as the cell door swung open. The Servant hummed softly, maintaining an expression that was rather difficult for me to read, before finally speaking in a soft tone.
"That is a good question. I'm sure you can't trust me unless I tell you all my name." He paused and fixed us with a stern gaze. "That having been said, my True Name is not to be revealed lightly. Though even if I told you, you wouldn't know who I am. As such. You should just call me—"
"Geronimo," I guessed. The man's eyes widened slightly as he turned to look at me. "That's how I know you, at least. Geronimo, a prominent leader and medicine man of the Bedonkohe band of the proud Apache."
Geronimo stared at me a little longer before nodding his head briefly. "That is correct, young Master. I am here as a Caster. Please don't think of me as a shaman, though. I'm far from one. I'm just a warrior."
Before any more could be said, my commlink began chiming insistently. I raised it to my face and answered it before its ringing could alert any other guards.
"Jacob! Ritsuka! Can you guys hear me?!" Doctor Roman suddenly shouted in a panicked voice. "I'm able to read your group's magical signatures again!"
"We're here, Doc, but please keep it down," I said softly, wincing at the echoing from the acting-director's words. Hopefully, no Mechanized Infantry units were on their way down. At least, not yet. "We were in a cell that severely weakened our connection to Chaldea. It's better now. Looks like we've got another Servant ally, too."
"Wait, wait, a Servant you say?" Doctor Roman gaped. "But I'm not detecting any new Servant signatures in your group at all!"
"If I gave off a Servant's response, we'd risk the possibility of that great hero of India finding us," Geronimo said softly. "It's thanks to this Noble Phantasm I borrowed from a…from a friend. As one of your friends mentioned earlier, I am Geronimo."
Doctor Roman gasped softly. "The Hero of the Apache!" He paused, and coughed, finally regaining his usual composure. "I see. There's no way he would follow Edison. Even though they live in the same land, that's actually the reason why they're so incompatible."
"Strictly speaking, we should also be enemies," Geronimo said, and I tensed up as I felt his gaze focus on me once more. "Especially you, young Master. However, there is no time for that. We must leave immediately."
"How did you get past the guards outside the dungeon? Is there more than one way out?" Ritsuka asked, as I slumped slightly, a pool of guilt forming in my stomach. Yes, were we in a different situation, Geronimo would have refused to aid us. To aid me. What's more, I wouldn't even blame him. Couldn't blame him, actually. I was more than happy to let Ritsuka take over for the moment.
Both to let him shine some on his own, and to also avoid somehow raising tensions.
"No. The two Mechanized Infantry units that stood guard outside have been dealt with, but I fear more may be on their way. We recently discovered that they are all connected and thus are able to sense if one or more of their compatriots nearby has been taken out by enemy action."
"We don't have long until the alarm is raised, then," Chulainn surmised with a grimace, clutching Gàe Bolg tightly in his hands.
"Indeed. More importantly, it won't take long for Karna to notice us. At that point, it will take everything we have to escape."
"You better have an escape method in mind. My Master's injured," Mordred grunted, as she and Nightingale eased me up onto my feet after the former had re-summoned her armor. Geronimo nodded solemnly.
"I do, thankfully. You'll see when we get outside," Geronimo said reassuringly, as heavy, mechanical footsteps began to approach us. "Are you ready?"
Mash looked at Ritsuka. Her boyfriend nodded back, a grim but determined look in the eyes of my fellow Master.
"Let's do this, Mash!" Rits shouted, pumping a hand into the air. His girlfriend nodded, summoning her shield and positioning both it and her body in front of Ritsuka.
"Right," she said, sounding equally steady. "I'm not used to bullets yet, but I'll do my best!"
I turned to look at the blonde knight beside me. Mash and Ritsuka's other Servants would play defensive, while my three primary offensive Servants would take point. She returned my gaze.
Without saying a word, Mordred reluctantly nodded and released me, taking a few steps back and holding out her hands. Clarent appeared in the, a second later, and then her helmet once more covered her face.
A second later, the door was kicked down, and about a dozen and a half Mechanized Infantry units began to pour into the room. The doorway was just wide enough to allow two abreast to pass at the same time. If we waited any longer, we would be trapped in here by sheer numbers.
"Mordred, Fran, Alter, take them down!" I added, and the three Servants in question shot past Ritsuka and I to join Cu and Geronimo in the fight.
It was with more than a little vicious glee that Mordred slammed the full length of Clarent through the torso of a Mechanized Infantry unit. Gripping the hilt of her stolen sword tightly, the Knight of Rebellion yanked it out, causing an arc of sparks to fly out of the gaping hole in the robot's chest.
To the right of her, Fran growled angrily as she slammed that bulbous-headed mace of hers down onto the head of her own opponent. To the robot's credit, it didn't go down immediately, and Fran gave off another growl, louder this time, before swinging down her mace again. This time, the blow caused the robot to crumple up all the way down to the waist.
To the left, the Dragon Bitch delivered the last of a series of lightning-fast strikes to her opponent's torso, her sword tearing it open to expose gears, wires, and circuit boards. The savaged Mechanized Infantry unit stumbled backwards, its limbs twitching spasmodically as its robotic voice warned of an imminent shutdown, before collapsing onto the ground, the remaining internal mechanisms grinding to an abrupt halt.
The trio of female Servants had easily cut down the first few hostile robots, pushing into the long corridor beyond the doorway, and continuing to press their relentless offensive. The robots were big, alright, but also bulky. They seemed to rely on their range attacks, and so were vulnerable to melee combat.
Against the Celts, that might not have been a big problem, as the spacious fields that served as the primary battleground allowed for Edison's dumb electrical toys to maximize their lethal weaponry, but Mordred and the others were Servants! She was faster and stronger than any Celt.
Ahead, Mordred saw another robotic soldier readying its built-in weapon. Whipping her hand to the side, Mordred swung forward, not throwing Clarent so much as chucking it like a grenade. The sword sliced through the arm just below the joint, and due to momentum, didn't stop until it had embedded itself in the 'throat' of another.
"And you say that's an excessive move!" She taunted Jacob over her shoulder, before activating her Mana Burst ability and darting forward, one handed chambered back as she readied her right fist.
"Most people aren't Servants," her lover, still being supported by Nightingale, retorted as her gauntlet-covered fist slammed into the head of the (literally) disarmed robot. Dashing forward, she grabbed the hilt of Clarent and swung it up and through the Mechanized Infantry unit it had impaled, before leaping backwards, landing softly next to Jacob. She rested the oil-coated blade of Clarent against her right shoulder pauldron and smirked at him.
"Sounds like just an excuse to me!" Her smirk grew even bigger as she watched Jacob roll his eyes and shake his head.
It felt so damn liberating to finally get the chance to do something. To fight someone in a good old-fashioned brawl. It certainly helped that Jacob had agreed to keep himself away from fighting directly in the frontlines earlier.
Not everyone was impressed with her display, however. Geronimo stared at her warily, as if he was in the same room as a feral beast. She brushed it off easily, however. She was no more beholden to pleasing him than she was Mother.
"That looks like the last of them, for now," Geronimo said softly, as Fran and Jeanne Alter finished off the last of their own opponents. "Karna must have noticed by now. Follow me, quickly!" Without waiting for any responses of agreement, their rescuer strode past Mordred, and she and the others began following the Caster.
The tunnel grew in size and width after about fifteen minutes or so. Mash stumbled slightly beside Mordred, her eyes wide in awe. "T-This place is huge!" Shieldy exclaimed in shock. "Bigger than I ever imagined! We're below ground?" Geronimo nodded, pausing momentarily to look over his shoulder at them.
"Correct. In this era, land is the only thing there's plenty of. Well, that and violence," he added melancholy after pausing briefly. Jacob's commlink then went off, and Mordred's lover quickly answered, wincing slightly at the echoing noise.
"Mr. Geronimo," Doctor Roman started to say, speaking a little louder than Mordred and the others were comfortable with. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" Oh, for the love of… Was this really the time to be asking questions? In the heart of the enemy's base?
"You don't have to raise your voice, mage," Geronimo said reproachfully, and Mordred heard Jacob's temporary boss uttering a soft, and perhaps pointless, apology. "What is your question?"
In Eastern and Western America, the Celts and Edison have raised armies and are at war. This we understand. But do you know of any other Servants who we speculate were summoned as countermeasures?" Roman asked, quieter this time.
"Yes, there are three…" Geronimo paused, causing Mordred to stare suspiciously at the Caster. Her eyes narrowed further as the Native American Heroic Spirit continued speaking. "No, two other Servants that fight with me. I'll introduce them to you all after we escape. It seems there are many more Servants who have been summoned here to America, though." Her Master hummed softly.
"But not enough in any one faction to decisively bring an end to this mess, I presume?"
"Correct. To be honest, the Celtic army is picking us off one by one. Their Servant allies are extremely dangerous, especially their king and queen. But if you join us, we'll be able to take decisive action."
"Wait, so are you the leader of the resistance movement that Fionn and Diarmuid mentioned? Were you the one who prevented more Celtic warriors from overwhelming the medical camp earlier?"
"Yes."
"Then I may very well owe you my life, Geronimo," Jacob said solemnly. Mordred watched as Geronimo nodded briefly but didn't comment on the statement immediately.
"I was not aware that you were in danger, truth be told. Florence Nightingale has treated and saved more than a few of my own non-Servant comrades. It was the least I could do to repay her." He turned around. "What are your names, by the way, young Masters?"
"Ritsuka Fujimaru."
"Jacob Aronson." Geronimo nodded, and looked back ahead. Their guide began to move forward once more when Berserker Nurse spoke up.
"Wait a moment. I have a question of my own that I wish to ask."
"What is it, angel?" Geronimo's eyes widened then narrowed in confusion, and with his free hand he briefly pinched his nose. "My deepest apologies, Nurse Nightingale. That was inebriate of me. Please, go ahead and ask your question."
"No worries. If memory serves me correctly, Geronimo, you were once at war with this nation." Mordred heard her lover inhale sharply beside Nightingale, looking down in shame. Her brow furrowed. She knew for a fact that Jacob had never encountered Geronimo in person before, or vice versa. So, what was his deal? She suspected that it was related to Nightingale's question and would have to wait for later to get the chance to ask for more details.
"That is correct," Geronimo said curtly, in response to Nightingale's statement.
"If this era is corrected, you will be treated as a warrior who failed. Is that all right for you?"
"I don't mind," Geronimo said before tension could fill the crowded subterranean corridor. "Victory or defeat, in the end, it's no more than a point embedded in the flow of time. Crushing this era would mean that my brothers and I shed all this blood for nothing. That our families suffered for nothing. It's simple to pretend something doesn't exist. It's even easier if that something is disadvantageous to yourself."
"But?" Nightingale prompted.
"Even so, being able to acknowledge something is what makes us warriors. Only a sly coyote would pretend something doesn't exist."
'Or a certain king,' Mordred thought rather bitterly in the privacy of her mind while their newfound ally finished his little 'sermon'.
"Too much irony for my taste." Nightingale hummed and nodded her head slowly.
"I see," she finally said, gently adjusting her grip on Jacob to continue helping him along while causing minimum discomfort. "Then for now, I can think of you as an ally, yes?" Geronimo chuckled wryly.
"I wouldn't want to try fooling a gaze that could even shoot a sun down. Oh, and Master Jacob?"
"Yes?" Mordred's Master asked quietly, more subdued than normal.
"I have no quarrel with you."
"How did you—?"
"Like I said earlier, Nightingale has helped more than a few of my comrades in the resistance. One of them overheard your…conversation with Helena Blavatsky." Mordred watched cautiously as Jacob mulled it over, before finally speaking softly.
"I… Thank you." Geronimo waved his head.
"Fix the timeline, and make sure that what my brothers and I fought and died for is never lost, and we'll be even. Now, come, we're almost at the exit."
Mordred took up the other side of Jacob once more as the group resumed their rapid pace towards freedom.
I blinked, briefly blinded by the rising sun as we stepped out of the catacomb-like underground of Edison's fortified capital. The dawn sky was absolutely beautiful, but once again I was unable to truly enjoy it.
"So, how are we getting out of here?" I asked Geronimo, doing my best to maintain a respectful manner and not let my anxiety show. This was one of those situations where to panic was to basically sign one's death sentence.
The Apache warrior didn't respond immediately, instead holding his knife in one hand and holding it skywards. The early morning light bounced off of the flat of his blade as he angled it slightly. I hummed softly, impressed at the simple yet ingenious signaling tactic.
"We requisitioned some of Edison's vehicles. We will be using those to escape. Once we're far enough away, I'll tell you the final destination."
"What, don't trust the people you broke out?" Jeanne Alter snapped. Mordred growled a stern warning to the Dragon Witch.
"Not when we have Edison's greatest ally expected to arrive at any moment." As if to prove a point, my commlink began going off. It was with a sinking feeling in my gut that I answered the call.
"Jacob here."
"I'm detecting a powerful Servant signature from behind you!" Doctor Roman blurted out, and I tensed up.
"As expected," Geronimo sighed, not looking behind him, but keeping his gaze focused instead on the horizon. "Outwitting him was too much to ask for. We can't turn back now, though."
"I'm afraid that I must interfere at this point," a familiar voice said suddenly. I turned around, as did a fully armored Mordred and a stern-looking Nightingale, to see that Karna was indeed behind us, and with almost a hundred Mechanized Infantry units behind him.
Original Endnotes: Uh-oh! I'm sure that Karna only wants to have some tea and biscuits or what have you, right? Also, how'd I do with the scene between Geronimo and Jacob? What did you think? Please let me now down below.
For the question(s) of the chapter: What's your favorite childhood movie, or the top three if you can't pick one.
As always, thanks for all the love and support you guys and gals have consistently given this story, and I hope you enjoyed Chapter 111. Have a wonderful day, and see you in Chapter 112!
Updated Endnotes 01/24/24: As always, the fully-updated copy of my story can be found on Archive of Our Own, with Chapter 287 having been posted on Monday. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and see you all next week!