Not-yet-summer resort: II

One day, at that seaside town, she looked at the doctor as he attended another patient.

She asked of him, is it wrong to feel envy? To be jealous of others?

The doctor paused, before affirming humans are jealous creatures.

It is fine to envy what others have, so long as it is not done wrongly.

Confusion rose in her mind. Done wrongly? What did that mean?

She wasn't human, couldn't be human, so could such a thing apply to her?

That child, she began once more, I wanted to kill her.

Why? He queried.

Because she had a mother, and I did not, she confirmed.

The doctor remained silent for a long time. He put down his needle, and looked at her over his mask.

The silence remained for a long time as they stared at each other.

The doctor turned back, as if the conversation never happened.

The words he gave her then stayed with her to her dying day.

"It is not wrong to want a mother and to feel that love for yourself. Never think that is a sin."

It was incredible, really.

Between seeing dragons flying above his head, being part of a battle between Gods, and even seeing magic as something real and tangible in front of him. Ritsuka thought that there really wasn't anything else that could have surprised him.

Yet as he stared into the bright green - and very confused looking - eyes of the twelve-year-old blonde child in front of him, wielding a sword that was actually taller than he was, wearing armour which was polished silver and coming with a flip down visor for a helmet. It literally looked like a child in dress up for the archetypal knight.

And they barely even came up to just past his shoulder, and this was a person who - mere seconds ago - had stood a full head taller than him and been wearing an entirely different set of armour.

Nope, he was staring at a small blonde child with strands of the hair jutting down from underneath the helmet, pressed flat against his forehead. All he could really do was just stare in complete and utter dumbfounded silence, all the while the boy looked back at him with those same bright eyes.

"Master Ritsuka?" They repeated the words again, even their voice sounded to be of their age, it was utterly incredible to him that there was nothing that could have prepared him for this moment. Even as he opened his mouth to reply, no words sprung forth beyond making a small noise in the back of his throat.

Unfortunately, they only prompted the young child to give him a sudden look of horror as their head whipped around to one of those standing behind him. "Lady-er-Ser-wait-Squire? Yes! Squire Mash, I think Master Ritsuka is choking on something!"

Their announcement was laced with genuine panic as they took a step towards him, he jerked his head and took a half step backwards and swung his arms up, ensuring that he kept a distance from the child and then snapped his head to and from the Saber Servant in front of him, offering a twitching smile towards the younger blonde as he did so. "I-I'm fine, Ash-"

The child frowned again. "Please stop calling me that, Master Ritsuka…" the boy groaned, then blinked rapidly and removed one of his hands from the sword handle, moving it up and nursing at his head as he did so, a low and painful sounding groan came out from between his lips. "It makes my head hurt… I'm Gawyn."

Yeah, because that wasn't disturbing to him in the least.

His head whipped towards Solaire, he pointed towards 'Gawyn' and took a single step towards the Servant, all while they remained as motionless as they had done so for the last couple of minutes. "Explain this. Now."

Ritsuka was surprised by how stern his words came out, but he believed he was entitled to it at this point in time. Especially because Ash was now running around like a child and calling himself 'Gawyn'. The implications left little to be desired.

Solaire jolted as soon as he spoke, turning and facing them with an expression that was rather thunderstruck, wide eyes and parted lips, he took a hasty step backwards and brought his own hands up in surrender, eyes moving from him to across and over his shoulders in a wide sweeping motion, suffice to say that he was certain he was facing multiple glares all of which were demanding the same answer. "I-I can't-I'm not sure how-"

Stopping themselves, they took a deep gulp and then started again. "I swear to you all, by the light of the sun itself, I have no earthly idea what has transpired here. There is-I would never have led you-I wish no ill will upon any of you and I would never knowingly lead you into a situation where you or your allies would be the victim of-" he wordlessly waved a hand in the direction of the childlike Ash.

The child responded with a blink, then pointed to themselves. "Wait, so was I actually shrunk? I thought the rest of you just got even taller, but it makes more sense if I shrunk." they paused, a thoughtful frown and then a single confident nod of the head, they turned on him with a blinding smile. "I've shrunk, Master Ritsuka! You're all still the same height as you were, isn't that great?"

Before he could even formulate a response to that, the expression of Ash abruptly died off, their smile was all but banished from their face and replaced with a cold line. Their brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, but not at him, rather towards the distance as their voice came out a moment later. "...No. This is a detriment. I won't be useful in this state…"

…That was horrible to hear.

Then they turned and looked down towards the ground, Ritsuka followed their line of sight and quickly found that the cause of this sudden intrigue was Fou, having once again tagged along with them and now being sat down right in front of Ash and staring up at him, their head twitched to the side the longer they stared at him. "Fou?"

Even their noises sounded questioning, the look in their eyes as they turned their gaze onto him corroborated it.

This had managed to dumbfound even Fou.

"Don't…" He opened his mouth, then cut himself short of completing the sentence, instead he turned and looked over his shoulder towards the others just to get a measure of their own reactions. It went about as well as he would have expected, the most shocked and rather disturbed looking were those with the most understanding of what he meant, namely the Director herself.

Boudica and Gareth were just sort of baffled looking, Medusa didn't look as though she cared, Berserker was just staring on rather passively.

Mash, she was a little more difficult to place.

Her eyes lingered on Ash for a few moments, then turned their focus onto him with a searching look in them, almost as though she was hoping that he would pull out some answer for what was going on. Unfortunately for her, and for himself, he didn't have much of an answer for anyone.

Bringing himself back around to face Solaire, he took in a deep breath and then exhaled through his nose. His right hand moved up, then rubbed at his chin for a few short moments, all while the man seemed to be increasingly uncomfortable. He felt a little bit guilty about them being put on the spot like this, as it became rather clear to him that they had no idea what was going on either.

"One second." He requested, then turned back around and brought up his communicator, the face of Romani and Da Vinci wasn't long in appearing before him, both of them with looks on their faces as though they didn't have much of an answer either, but he was still going to ask. "Please tell me that you guys have something for this?"

Romani shrugged his shoulders, looking rather uncomfortable. "I'm…I'm not sure what I can tell you, Fujimaru-kun. We're reading a Servant next to you, it is the same basic information as Ash was, but it's…well…smaller?"

He gave him a flat stare.

"Alright, I know how that sounds-" He began, only to be cut off by a sigh from Da Vinci as she all but muscled her way past him.

"Romani is right, but I'll explain it a little better for you." She continued on. "What looks to have happened is similar to what Ash did to himself not that long ago, some manner of sealing for the majority of his power…but it seems to have gone even further along. Like staring at a big puzzle and then removing a single piece while you get rid of the rest. That is indeed Ash, but I would say we're only looking at a smaller piece of the grander whole…They're registered as a Saber Servant and their stats are…not all that impressive, but they have a very high Divinity ranking to them. We're looking at A rank."

"Oh, is that what that was?" He turned his head towards Berserker, who had chosen that moment to speak up. The look on the Servant's face was somewhat troubled, as though they were looking at or had smelt something unpleasant. "I wondered what it was, but…wait, does this mean that brother Ash is one of the light-kin?"

Ritsuka remained silent, sharing a glance with Mash for half a second before he brought his shoulders up and down rather stiffly. "Yeah. Seems so. Can't explain it…he's killed other Gods before though, maybe that's just influencing him now because he's got fewer restrictions on him."

"Okay…but where does Gawyn come from?" Gareth asked, and Ritsuka really wished she hadn't asked that. "Unless…wait, Ash said he couldn't remember his name! Now he remembers it! I guess there is something good about this after all! And he's-he's so tiny!"

She looked as though she was going to giggle, he watched as she waddled up to Ash and then stood next to him, chuckling all while she brought her hand up and then placed it against the top of her head and moved it across, a small squeal left her as she realised that she was taller than him, then stepped back a couple of steps and chuckled again. "It's like staring at a tiny Gawain!"

"Gareth…" Boudica chided her in a light tone of voice. "This isn't really the time to be making jokes, is it?"

To her credit, the knight flinched a little guilty, not that she could have known just how disturbing Ritsuka found the situation to be. The blonde girl took a step away from Ash and gave a low and almost embarrassed chuckle as she reached up and scratched the side of her cheek, making pains to avoid eye contact with Boudica.

Ritsuka kept his own expression as even as he could, watching over them silently, just as quickly he turned his focus back onto Solaire as though he had seen nothing, ensuring to keep an eye on Ash from the corner of his eye. The little Saber looked flummoxed, though likely for the fact they were acting so strange, from his point of view it was them who had changed.

"Where is the boss of this place?" He wanted words with them as soon as possible, and he didn't know how pleasant those words were going to be. All he could hope for is that they did this without truly understanding what they had done to Ash, what they had turned him back into.

If they did understand, if they knew what it was they had done and went ahead with it anyway, then there was no way he was going to let that slide, regardless of the reason they would offer him. Or if there was one, he would demand it given with full details and only then would he even consider it, but not before he demanded that Ash be changed back to the way he was.

Solaire looked at him, the wheat blonde man paused for only a moment as he locked eyes with him, Ritsuka didn't know what face he was making, only that it felt stiff and tight. He doubted it was anything pleasant. With a slow nod of the head, he turned back around, casting one final apologetic look towards the direction of Ash. "Of course, I shall bring you to them right away."

"Okay." A short reply, he waved his hand to the others. "Come on everyone, you as well Ash-"

"Gawyn, Master Ritsuka." They corrected him as though it was he who had made the mistake, Ritsuka only paused for a short moment and cast a look towards them, their face scrunched up and their hand moving to nurse their temples again, as though suffering from a poor headache. "Sorry…I'm not sure, but that word is…"

Pausing, they sighed and brought their eyes to meet him, their sight went cold once more. "I shall ensure this distraction does not affect my performance. For the meantime, I believe it best that we avoid the word until I can determine the cause of this pain." they paused, then bowed their head ever so slightly. "If that is possible, Master Ritsuka. I make no demands."

…He felt really cold inside.

"...Yeah." His response was as slow as it was quiet, a short nod of the head. "Come on then…Gawyn." trying to keep his distaste for it to a minimum, he watched the flicker of relief pass across the face of Ash, it was too much for him and he just as quickly turned his eyes away from them, marching after Solaire with as long a stride as he could manage.

They were moving through the courtyard once more, Ritsuka barely paid focus to everything that was going on around them, at least at first. Though the mutters and the calls of greeting eventually wore away and brought his gaze towards the rest of the area, despite his current misgivings, he raised his brows at the situation itself, far beyond what he could have ever envisaged to be here.

It very nearly topped the fact Ash had been changed into a child and had his mind messed with.

Nearly.

"...Am I hallucinating, or is this real?"

"There is magical energy surrounding us, but I do not believe this is a trick of the mind." In a curt comment, he glanced at the speaker and saw Medusa standing not far from him. Her own head gradually turned as she swept over the area, blindfold across her eyes. She had other ways of seeing, or so he had been assured. "This appears to be some manner of territory…though I am unsure as to the nature of it."

He furrowed his brows. "You can tell?"

A small nod. "I have a Noble Phantasm that operates along a similar principle, but…" silently, she turned her head upwards and stared towards the sky. "...I am unsure as to the purpose of this one. I do not sense my magical energy being drained, but its effects are apparent if what has become of Avenger is evidence."

"Does that mean that the rest of us could end up as children?" The query from Berserker sounded troubled, Ritsuka figured it was with good reason. If this was instead something designed to lower the age of those within the field, then that was concerning and yet…

He turned and looked around, briefly furrowing his brows as his eyes moved along what appeared to be the stalls of a theme park. No, it was not merely what they appeared as, it was what they were. He could even spot tall guardians standing at different points, thick bold letters painted across their breastplates which read 'Security' upon the front of them.

All of them were roughly the same height as Stahl and just as built, though their designs couldn't be further apart. Where Stahl was rough and angled, these were smooth and rounded.

Between the security guards, he could see other Servants walking around, many of them being those who they had lost during the night. He glanced towards the closest, then raised a brow at whom he spotted, a quick turn of the head, and he waved up Solaire to stop moving before he approached the otherwise relaxing Servant.

He only said that because they were sitting upon a bench with a plain expression on their face, they only looked up as he drew closer to them with but otherwise remained passive.

"Master."

"Altera." He nodded back to the simple greeting with his own even tone, looking left and right before back towards her. "...What are you doing here?"

"Sitting."

He realised who he was speaking with and that he should have phrased the question a little better. Bringing a hand up, he pointed down towards the ground. "I mean, what are you doing in this place, you're registered as one of the Servants who went missing in Chaldea, and now you're…sitting on a bench?"

Altera nodded her head slowly. "I encountered a surge of magical energy. It did not register as having hostile intentions, therefore my reactions were not properly suited for the situation." she explained, which definitely made sense as to how she would end up here. "When it became apparent what had occurred, I had no means of establishing communication with Chaldea but was otherwise contracted with you. Other Servants were similarly stranded when we received instructions to 'relax'."

He waited for her to continue onwards.

She just kept staring at him in complete silence, it took him a moment to realise that was the end of the story. A frown crossed his features, his hands moved to his hips and he turned his attention away from the Saber and to the others behind him, they all looked similarly puzzled. "...Have you felt anything trying to affect your body? Like, for instance, turning you younger?"

She just stared at him, then slowly tilted her head to the side. "No…Am I supposed to?"

Before he could reply, he heard the light clanging of steel as Ash approached them with his sword dragging behind him, he cringed at the noise which was akin to nails pulled across a chalkboard, he was thankful it stopped when it did, Ash coming up to a halt beside him. A moment later, they spoke.

"Greetings, fair-maiden." Ritsuka gave rapid fire blinks at the change of tone. "You have been a guest at this location for some time, yes?"

Altera took the appearance of the diminutive knight in stride, turning her focus onto him and nodding once. "I have been here for three days and twenty-two hours."

"Your assistance has been acknowledged as beneficial." Ash declared, then turned towards him and gave a single nod of the head. "This is troublesome, Master Ritsuka. There appears to be a dilation of time surrounding us. Our forces have only been hamstrung for less than eight hours, yet nearly four days have passed here. This situation is…"

Ash started to trail off, their expression turned tight as their eyes grew hazy. "This situation is…I have…the passage of time is broken…that means that the flame is…" they muttered, then started to stumble away from him. "Have to find the…what was I talking about?"

And just like that, it ended.

Straightening himself out, Ash turned to him with a frown. "I believe that something is altering my mind, Master Ritsuka. I request that we discover the root cause as soon as possible, otherwise I believe that it shall cloud my vision to the point where I am…no longer useful."

They said that as though it was the worst thing in the world.

A quirked eyebrow from Altera was the only sign of emotion on her face, even as she moved forwards perhaps less an inch in the direction of Ash and stared at him in silence. It wasn't long before the young blonde realised something was amiss and turned in the direction of the Saber, raising his own brow in a mirror of her expression.

"Do you require something more, Miss?"

"...Do I know you?"

"I do not recall meeting you," Ash replied somewhat hesitantly, though the slight confusion on their face indicated that there was something wrong with their own words. "but I feel as though there is something familiar. Regardless. I am Gawyn, a warrior in service to the Royal Family."

Altera remained silent for a moment, then leaned back and lowered her brow, as though there was never anything that caught her eye. "I see."

The brief interaction aside, Ritsuka turned from the pair and towards his own communicator and brought it up. The face of Romani greeted him once more, already with a worrisome frown upon his face from the conversation. "Ash-Gawyn might be onto something there, well…I say onto something, but there's no way we can get around the issue. This Singularity should be less than a couple of hours old on our end, and yet they're talking about days."

He figured it was the same, but something wasn't adding up. "Ash-"

"Fujimaru-kun, for the time being it might be best if we stick to calling him by the name he prefers," They quickly raised their hands and waved him down when he opened his mouth. "I wouldn't be a fan of it either, but it seems as though it might be causing him some sort of mental duress and if the sealing is any indication…this aspect of him is indeed the Gawyn who existed, getting some of his future thoughts and feelings filtering through."

His expression tightened, briefly looking towards the direction of Ash as they stood off to the side and kept their head turning from point to point as they scanned what could only be described as a theme park. It had everything one would expect, rides, stalls, even the guests. He was certain he saw some food being made off in the distance and if he didn't see it then he was definitely smelling it.

Smelled like fast food and the fact it smelt so appealing was rather troubling.

"...Alright, fine." Grumbling back to the doctor, even if he didn't like it there was no way of knowing how much damage it could cause. Like picking at a plaster which had just been put on or something. Until he found out what had been done and why, at the very least.

His eyes turned to the Director, she was wearing a similarly uncomfortable look as he was but slowly nodded her head up and down, offering her silent support of the doctors' stance but saying little else on the matter.

"If there is a time difference…wait, how much time has passed in Chaldea at the moment?" He asked, looking at Romani with a raised brow. "We've been here probably five or so minutes, shouldn't that translate to less than a couple of seconds or something back where you are?"

Romani offered him a faint smile, but shook his head from side to side. "Ordinarily yes, but with how the Rayshifting of Chaldea works, we've put ourselves within the same linear span of time as where you are…it's a lot of jargon and big science words but basically so long as you're there, we experience time the same rate as you…" he paused for a moment, then added on almost as an afterthought. "So long as we keep our connection, that is."

Ritsuka hummed, then glanced at the Director and Mash, the former put on a thoughtful frown. "Given that the previous time we encountered an anomaly such as this was within the London Singularity, where you documented the passage of time as perhaps a day, we experienced it as nearly a full week. So long as nothing interferes with our connection with Chaldea, we will all move on the same timeline at the same speed."

The Director paused for only a moment after that, shook her head, and then stepped closer. "Never mind that for now, what else can you tell us of the readings, Da Vinci? You should be close enough now that we're getting a better look."

Romani offered a strained smile and then leaned back just out of range, allowing the Caster to move to the forefront. "I'd have hoped for the same, but we're running into the exact same issue. We can't figure out what exactly is causing it beyond something related to the fortress you're inside. If I were to guess, I would say that it relates to the Holy Grail they have powering this place…but we'd need to do several different scans from different points to get a full picture."

The Director exhaled, then nodded her head up and down. "Very well then." she glanced towards him. "You continue with Saber over there and find the one responsible for this, I shall take my Servants and move around this…place to interrogate the other Servants and corroborate the story further, as well as find my other missing Servants." a low mutter as she rubbed her chin.

Mash stepped forwards. "Is that wise, Director? What if something happens?"

"We're still surrounded by Servants contracted to Chaldea." She pointed out, not unkindly. "And even if there is something preventing them from fighting, I have two Servants of my own if there should be an engagement…It will give us time to investigate this location and get more complete readings."

"If I may, Mistress Animusphere." Two blinks and the attention shifted to Ash as they stopped forwards, the little knight resting his sword on his shoulder with both hands clasped around the handle, looking as though he was trying to lean forwards to balance the weight. "We are in an unknown location, I believe we should consolidate our forces…though if this is a scouting mission then we would need more information before we proceed."

They fell silent for a moment, then took a step backwards. "I am content with either choice, so long as you do not risk yourself, Mistress Animusphere."

Ritsuka raised his brows, then turned his head back to the Director and watched her open and close her mouth, turning between himself and the blonde several times as she presumably tried and failed to come up with a fact she had just been called mistress. It was a bit of a shock to him as well…but it did make sense, the female version of Master was Mistress.

"R-right, well…Taking unnecessary risks isn't…I wasn't intending on it." Clearing her throat, the Director composed herself once more and shot him a small look. "I shall remain in constant communication with Chaldea and if I am hindered, you will be close enough to the Holy Grail to - in principle - deal with the holder of it…provided you can summon your Servants to your side."

She said, casting a cautious glance towards Altera for a moment before it turned back to him.

That was a good point, it seemed odd that there were so many Servants present at the exact same time, even if they were linked with Chaldea. He could only manage a small team by himself, the Director could likely do more but at the end of the day, it was just a matter of what his body could handle. No way could he handle the entire weight of every Chaldean Servant being here at the same time without passing out on the spot.

"Well?"

The query towards Romani and Da Vinci caused the two to look at one another, then back to him. The former shrugged and the latter gave a thoughtful hum. "I'm not sure, they're certainly being kept here with the power of the Holy Grail so…if the owner decided they would leave, then I'm certain they would just banish them right back to Chaldea again, but if you were to summon them in combat…"

Ritsuka shrugged, it was probably worth a shot.

Stepping back, he held out his right hand in front of him and focused on a name. "Gwyndolin."

A flash of light.

Ritsuka's expression blanked and his arm dropped back to his side, all but certain that someone coughed out but all he could really do was stare in silence.

Gwyndolin stared right back, pausing in the middle of tying their hair back into a ponytail with the band still caught between their lips, golden eyes flicked to him and widened ever so slightly before they moved around at a snail's pace, scanning the environment while saying nothing and ensuring they locked eyes with everyone present.

Once their hair was sufficiently held back, they took the band from between their lips and knotted it around their new ponytail, clearly their throat lightly and bringing their hands back down to their side.

Behind him, Medusa pulled her blindfold down- just enough for a hint of her true eyes to see. She leaned forward ever so slightly.

Ritsuka's eyes trailed down.

"...Going swimming?"

"...Yes."

He silently nodded his head up and down, eventually placing his hands on his hips and gesturing towards the God once again. "Where did you…where did you get the swimsuit?"

"...I was told it was an item of great cultural importance in Japan when one goes swimming, I was merely curious towards it." They replied rather defensibly, pulling their arms close and almost hugging themselves as they looked at him almost searchingly. "Given that it is something from your homeland, I felt it would be at least worth it to try it on…does it look good?"

"Well, I mean it's…ummm…you look good in it?" He brought his shoulders up and down, then offered a tiny smile, unsure of what else he was supposed to do.

Gwyndolin let out a small sigh. "That is fortunate to hear, I am surprised by how comfortable it is." they remarked rather surprised, looking down and clasping the thin rubber between their fingers and pulling it out, demonstrating the elasticity of it. "Almost as though I am wearing nothing at all…well…" Releasing it from between their fingers, it slapped against them with a gentle plap sound.

One that had Ritsuka flinch, his eyes turned literally anywhere else-

Wow, did Gwyndolin's neck always look that smooth or-?

Why was he thinking about that now?

Gwyndolin paused for a moment and then shifted uncomfortably, his hands moved down and adjusted it around their thighs. "Save for the issue of it riding high, but aside from that-"

A small high-pitched noise escaped him as he stepped backwards, "Don't…don't mind me, you can just go back to swimming-"

"Are you going to come as well? I'm sure we could find a swimsuit for you as well-"

"No!" He hastily replied, then caught himself and cleared his throat. "I mean, I need to just sort some stuff out, b-but maybe later, yeah?" bringing up his hands, he gave them a thumbs up and a strained smile.

Gwyndolin gave him a suspicious look for all of a second, then gave him a bright smile that almost sent his heart aflutter. "Very well. You have given me your word, do not forget it!" they nodded once to Medusa in greeting and then vanished in a flash of light.

He remained standing upright for a couple of moments, then leaned forwards and clasped his hand over his heart. "...I wasn't prepared for that."

Silence came next, blissful silence as he lived with the sight that was burned into his mind until Romani broke it.

"Hey…Fujimaru-kun? W-was it just me or was he wearing-?"

"A school swimsuit for high school girls, yes." He was surprised with how quickly he replied, then straightened himself out and turned around, staring at the assembled faces as he rolled his lips inwards. "Alright so…we now know that the summoning works and that there might be something going on here…or someone just scammed Gwyndolin into doing that but…well, as long as he's having fun, right?"

Berserker titled their head and furrowed their brows. "Aren't you having fun as well?"

Ritsuka blinked "Huh?"

"You're smiling as well." Their innocent question brought him up short, especially as they pointed an armoured gauntlet towards him. "And your face is red as well."

Someone snorted, his eyes darted to the person in question and found a stone faced Director looking right past him.

"...It looked rather tight on him, didn't it, Master?" His head whipped around to the speaker, Medusa stood without a single shred of emotion on her face, delivering the comments utterly tonelessly. "And was that him with his hair up? I believe it suits him-"

His hands slapped over his face as he groaned loudly into them and turned away.

Ripping them down and then finding himself staring at Ash, who was wearing an expression devoid of emotion.

"...Was that Lord Regent Gwyndolin?"

Ah, yes.

That was also Ash's uncle, wasn't it?

…Did Ritsuka really just ogle-?!

No. No he didn't.

He definitely did not.

No way.

"Solaire!" He turned on the Saber, clapping his hands together loudly. "How far until we get there?"

Solaire blinked, then brought a hand up and gestured over his shoulder further along the path, looking rather bemused.

"Okay, great!" He turned back around and towards the Director "We'll continue our way to the meeting and speak with the person in charge, we'll call you once we get out of the meeting or do you want me to keep it on constant when we get in?"

The woman paused for a moment, then replied. "No, I'll focus on investigation and then you shall communicate with me the second you exist, Romani and Da Vinci will corroborate your story or if you need assistance." she paused, then turned around and waved to her own Servants. "We will inform you of what we have discovered, if there is anything to be found."

A second later, she turned and he could swear there was a twinkle of amusement in her eye. "And don't get sidetracked by your poolside date."

He blanked at her, she was already walking away before he could even get a word out.

Bringing up his hand, he pointed towards her and then turned towards Mash with a baffled expression. "D-did she just…?"

Mash looked just as surprised, slowly nodding her head up and down as she watched the Director depart. "I-I believe she did just tease you, Senpai…I'm surprised she is in a mood to do that."

"Let her find her amusement where she can." Boudica chuckled as she moved beside them, placing her hand on his arm and slowly lowering back down to his side so he wasn't pointing at her. "If the most egregious thing that happens on this outing is Ash being turned into a child, then I would say that it's not the worst thing in the world…besides, it seems as though it's a chance for you to get some friends in high places."

He sent Boudica a dull look for a moment, she merely chuckled and then walked past him towards Ash. "Come on then, try to avoid looking at them for too long, it's a bit rude to stare."

"Oh, I see. My thanks, your Grace-" Ash was cut off by Boudica giving his head a playful little flick with an echoing ting.

"You can just call me Boudica."

"Ah, I see." Ash replied stiffly, then nodded once. "As you say…Boudica."

Ritsuka cringed only a little but he noted that it still very much sounded like the sort of thing that Ash would both say and do, so apparently his personality had not changed that much…but watching as he stomped down on moments of being childish in favour of being his older self was rather jarring.

"Yeah! And you can just call me Gareth!"

"That I cannot do." The Lancers face fell rather quickly at the swift denial, Ash rapidly shaking his head from side to side. "You are an anointed knight, to speak with you so casually would foster misunderstandings that we are equal to one another. You are my better."

Gareth frowned, "I mean, we're both Servants under the same Master. So we are equals-"

"Sir Gareth." Ash began slowly, then the small boy turned in the direction of the girl and pulled a strained look on his face, glancing rather and seeking out his own eyes before he turned them away, almost as though he was ashamed. "...We are not equals, and it would be best that we both return to our assigned duties. You may treat me as you wish, but I must defer to my betters by the respect they are owed. It is only natural, I have no standing within an order of knights."

The Lancer pouted, then looked towards him as though she was asking him to do something about it. He offered her a frown and a shrug of the shoulders, he couldn't see anything other than just ordering Ash to call her by her regular name as working.

"How come you call her Boudica, though?" Gareth persisted further, Ash merely furrowed his brows.

"She is a Queen. She has the authority to demand that of me." He simply explained, and the logic made sense, save for the fact that Ritsuka could now see Boudica starting to cringe rather worryingly at the direction of the smaller Saber.

A moment later, the red-headed Rider exhaled and brought her hand up, nursing her brows and muttering something under her breath before pulling her hand away. "Gawyn, you can call her Gareth, especially if she is fine with being casual. It wouldn't do to accidentally insult anyone, would it?"

Ash flinched. "That was not my intention, Boudica. I…It is merely how I was trained, the authority of the Knight and their status must be respected at all times." they explained. "Though if you are commanding me to and Master Ritsuka makes no objections to it…"

He shook his head from side to side when Ash looked at him questioningly, now seeing that there were no objections to it, Ash looked rather puzzled by the matter with his jaw rolling from side to side, a faint but not imperceptible hum came from the Servant as they closed their eyes and dropped their head ever so slightly.

"...Then I shall refer to you as Gareth for the duration of this mission." They yielded, though it almost sounded as though it was physically painful for them to not show her the proper respect she was due, or they believed they had to give her at all times.

With whatever that was over, he gestured up ahead for them. "We should probably get going then, I doubt that whoever is waiting for us will wait forever."

He took a single step and then paused as he caught the look on the face of Solaire, the blonde haired man was making a clear show of avoiding making eye contact with him. With furrowed brows, Ritsuka squinted a little harder, bringing his hands back and resting them atop his hips as he kept a silent vigil upon the knight.

Naturally, they folded after a few more seconds, a short but exasperated sigh soon followed. "I shall warn you that when you arrive you should not expect the most…punctual of greetings, though I will avoid speaking ill of her there are some matters in which there could be improvements…" they paused for a moment, bringing up their right hand and seesawing it. "Most definitely when it comes to productiveness…but I cannot expect everyone to be akin to an order of knights."

That sounded like an excuse to him, it sounded like they were literally trying to offer some small measure of safety net for why someone wasn't the laziest person in existence. Was that who they were going to be running into?

"Uh-huh." With an unimpressed look at the Saber, he raised a brow at Solaire.

The knight cleared their throat and looked back to him. "Shall I assume that the Lady Animusphere will be meeting up with you at a later date?"

"That a problem?"

"Not at all." Solaire relaxed, looking more at ease and with a faint smile. "I would say that my summoner will be rather joyed at the fact they have opted to have a closer look around this summer resort."

Ritsuka opened his mouth to reply, then paused for a moment as the words registered in his head, a bemused look flickered across his face as he turned to the others and noted that they were similarly looked rather bewildered by the words that the man had used.

Mash slowly raised her hand, looking around for a few seconds and then at the man again. "Uhmm…Solaire-san? It's not summer though…it's still the winter months and will be until March begins in three months time…F-for us at least?"

Solaire's confident expression faltered ever so slightly. "I-is that so? I wasn't sure what would have happened around here or if the seasons operated differently, I thought it was puzzling to build a resort and market it for the summer seasons while it was still winter, but I was assured that it would 'all work out well in the end' or to that effect…is that not how it works then?"

"...No."

"...Ah. I see." A slow nod of the head and then they cringed, not looking particularly comfortable any more.

Now Ritsuka was just starting to feel bad for the guy that he was getting hit again and again with bombshells and left out high and dry without anything he could say to really defend himself beyond 'I don't know' which wasn't the most pleasing response in the world. And by his own words, or what could be implied from them, his summoner may or may not be a slacker.

Really, this situation sounded less than ideal, but it was the one they were all but forced into.

Taking a single step forwards, he quickly felt something take hold of the back of his shirt and pull him right back, stumbling a little and turning his eyes around with his mouth flying open to ask what the heck was going on, his question was cut short by the serious glint in the eyes of Mash and the fact they were aimed to the skies above him.

His own gaze turned upwards, just in time to watch something flash right across the points above him and slam with a thud into one of the stone arches nearby, a thick cable went taut between the two points, yet rather than appear surprised by the sudden action, Solaire ahead of them looked upwards and then let out a small sigh of exasperation and little else, as though he was used to whatever this was.

That caused him to relax a little, but still kept wary as his focus drifted back to the cable now stretching away into the distance, squinting a little as a figure glided down it with their hands wrapped around it, uncaring as to what must have been a less than pleasant experience on their skin, fabric billowed behind them in the wind, a ragged and dirty grey cloak draped around their shoulders with a matching scrap of cloth tied around their waist with some thin wrapping on their shins.

Other than that, little else was worn as clothing.

Except that wasn't just it with the odd man.

They released the cable and then dropped without making so much as a single noise as they fell what looked to be at least half a dozen metres, the only evidence they felt the impact when they touched the ground was the slight bending of their knees but little else.

Their head came back up, patting away at the cloak for a couple of seconds before they turned their head on the rest of them, their blood-red eyes blending over into golden slitted pupils in a rather menacing fashion, like he was starting into the eyes of a predator sizing up prey.

A look of intensity in the eyes as they stepped forwards, pale coloured skin, unkempt messy reddish hair and a rather thin athletic build, they looked to be more of a sprinter than anything else, it would explain why they wore so little.

Though that wasn't the most alarming thing about them.

It was the fact that every inch of their body seemed to be covered in tattoo's and not just any sort of tattoo's, as they moved closer it became apparent there was a theme to them. Adorned with what looked to him like paintings one would find upon the wall of a cave, a simple design to them which depicted a number of different conflicts, humans fighting dragons, humans fighting strange horned monster things, humans fighting other humans and even animals fighting one another.

It was as though the man was painted in a tapestry of battle.

"Lancer." Solaire greeted them first and foremost, yet there was a note of hesitance about it that was noted by him rather quickly.

Despite that, the now aforementioned Lancer just grinned as though nothing had happened, a rather friendly smile which conflicted with his bewildering look, but he wasn't one to judge.

"I'm surprised to see you here." The Sun Warrior continued on, inclining his head to the side, "I had thought you mentioned something about an archery range for those with a passing interest?"

"Hmmm?" The Lancer paused for a moment, a brief look of confusion flashed across their eyes, then just as quickly vanished. The smile returned, undaunted with confusion. "Oh, that. I lost interest in it, hardly much value if you're shooting at something which doesn't offer you anything for a show of skill…"

They dismissed with a rather bored tone of voice, waving their hands. "I'm sure that Archer would have greater amusement with it anyway, she seems to approve of that sort of thing…a shame she keeps running away from my attempts to wrangle her into it."

Solaire let out a barely amused noise. "Her first impression of you lingers on."

"It was a compliment, and a well deserved one." Lancer defended themselves with a roll of the eyes. "The fact she found offence in that is surprising to me, she is a hunter and I gave her the due respect."

Then those golden slitted orbs darted towards him, a tilt of the head as they stepped around Solaire and moved closer, a small hum rippled out from their throat with clear curiosity.

Their gaze shifted from person to person, lingering on Boudica for a moment before leaning backwards, a small noise, and then they opened their mouth to make a comment. "The most dangerous warriors are those without armour, for they are the ones with the most confidence in their skill…as it works with predators, always the feeble looking ones with the nastiest bite."

Ritsuka blinked twice, then sent a bemused look towards the Rider in question, she remained utterly stone faced in the wake of the odd compliment, though only for a couple of seconds, then she folded her arms over her chest and gave them an unamused look.

"That sounds like a runabout way of complimenting yourself as well."

Lancer flashed her a sharp toothed grin. "It does, doesn't it? But that makes it no less true. Not that armour is anything to be ashamed about, mind…" they nodded in the direction of Ash when they caught sight of him, only to pause and then furrow their brows ever so slightly. They stepped closer, then dropped into a crouch, which brought them eye height with the young Servant.

Ash offered a blank stare right back to the Lancer. "...Is there some issue, sir?"

"...What boring eyes you have." They remarked with a dull tone of voice, sniffing once and then standing back up again, placing their hands on their hips and then looking the Saber over as though they were a puzzle that didn't quite make sense to them. "Which is odd because you…I feel as though your eyes should be more interesting, there's a certain aura about you like my own, but your eyes are just…empty."

With a lame sigh, they turned away from them and briefly paused, double taking in the direction of Medusa and tilting their head ever so slightly. A moment later and their lips turned crooked, almost amused but not quite. "Aren't you the sharp little thing…former Goddess, I would say, but that's fine…" they gave a shudder and chuckled. "Ready to pounce at any moment…almost like a snake?"

Ritsuka narrowed his eyes at that comment, as that was definitely close.

Either they were making a coincidental comparison, or they definitely knew who Medusa was.

"Oh well." Lancer's face blanked a moment later, offering a thin smile as they glanced upwards and away from them. "Enjoy your time here, little ant."

It took Ritsuka a second to realise that the comment had been aimed at him, yet before he could offer any sort of rebuttal, the Servant was in the air and back onto the cable by the soles of their heels, springing up the length of it and out of sight before long.

A groan caught his focus, Solaire stood with his head in his hands. "I suppose you would need to have met him sooner or later, but that was Lancer…he comes and goes as he pleases, but he has offered his services from time to time." he admitted with a small shrug of the shoulders. "He's courteous enough."

"He just called me an ant." He couldn't help but comment, not that he was all that offended by it, but at the same time, he had just been called an ant.

Solaire looked troubled once again. "Yes, well…he's not done that before."

"He was a God, Master." He turned towards Medusa, the Rider still staring in the direction where Lancer had vanished off towards, then she turned her head back towards him. "Though he does not feel as strong a divinity as Gwyndolin, it is still that of a potent divine spirit…though it smells…muddied by something. As with the blackened Saber."

A same sort of situation as Artoria Alter?

"Romani?"

"She's not wrong, they were definitely a God." The doctor supported with a troubled tone of voice. "And there's no telling what they were a God of, from the looks of things I would guess it might be something to do with hunting? Maybe? They did speak like that…"

He thought on the doctor's comment for a moment, then scratched his chin. "Or art."

Romani opened his mouth to respond, then closed it and blinked slowly. "Art?"

"Yeah, art." He repeated his words. "You see what he was painted up like? He looked like some sort of cave painting. Kind of nifty looking but a bit weird…"

"I would avoid interacting with them on principle." Medusa remarked once again, drawing the focus of the group back onto her. "His remarks went doubly so for himself, despite his divinity he moved with swiftness…I would speculate he prefers surprise attacks, like myself."

The very nearly butt naked man didn't want to try and get into an upfront fight? He could believe that.

He turned on Solaire "Should we expect anyone else to drop in on us?"

"Not likely." Solaire replied with a shake of the head accompanied by an understanding smile. "Though I understand the concern, but Archer is away at the moment tending to some of the younger Servants who have appeared, closer in age with what has been done to your comrade now that I think on it…"

They muttered, rubbing their chin thoughtfully. A shake of the head. "There is another Saber like myself who roams the island, but she does not stray too far from my summoner or Lancer when he is around."

Was that right?

"They're friends?" He queried, earning a brief pause from Solaire before a look of confusion moved across their face.

"I…I believe they would be friends? Perhaps?" He didn't sound convinced. "Forgive me, she is not the most talkative of sorts even at the best of times, when she does speak it is of few words and certainly not very many to me…"

A pause, then a flicker of what looked like being abashed.

"I do believe she dislikes me."

"Eh?" Mash made a noise of confusion by his side. "Why is that, Solaire-san?"

"For the life of me, I do not know." The Saber admitted with a light chuckle, then shrugged their shoulders. "But as is her right. Though we should be on our way once again, before too much of the day passes us by…I believe you would prefer answers now as opposed to later."

Well, they had that right.

He touched down on the battlement with a quiet thud, then turned back around and glanced in the direction he had come from.

It had not been as he was expecting, not in the least.

Unsure of whether to be disappointed or not, but he could still see some value in it.

They were a young pup, but that was when they learned how to hunt for the first time, that was the period where their elders would sharpen their fangs and raise them right and proper. Arguably, this was better.

Yes, much better.

Lancer turned his head away with a hum, then paused as he sensed an approaching presence, the smile that came upon his lips was genuine as they drew closer and closer to him. With a blur of movement, they landed on the battlement at the opposite side, with only a squeak of leather against stone to herald their otherwise silent arrival.

He folded his arms, raising a brow. "You know, you would have better luck at stealth if you wore less vocal attire."

The woman opposite said nothing, then her eyes briefly glanced down at their boots before coming back up, she did not offer much in the way of an excuse beyond a mere shrug of the shoulders. "My job is to be seen. Or so she says."

The woman wore what was customary of a 'security guard', at least as to how the summoner deemed. Long black boots covered her feet, leaving a clack against the stone. A large black jacket with a puffy collar covered her shoulders and front, a white shirt beneath. Atop her head sat a stylish cap with a larger visor than normal. Dark sunglasses hid her eyes from view… but not her neutral expression.

"Did you see who you wanted?" Saber questioned, stepping up beside her comrade. "You were quite excited to see them."

"...perhaps," Lancer admitted, sitting down and letting his legs dangle off the wall. Even in such a position, he still reached near Saber's head. "But it is… disappointing. No fire, only… ash."

Saber hummed. "Kindling, then? Perhaps they merely need fuel added, to bring out the fire."

Lancer nodded. Compared to most other residents of the Singularity, Saber was a rare sort: she didn't fight or disagree with his notions or beliefs. In contrast, she agreed with them but did disagree on the methods by which he actioned them.

It was an unusual partnership… but far better than his with his family.

Lancer looked back up at Saber. Despite her usual stoicisim, her face twitched with some emotion. Her fingers rubbed against her sunglasses, as if trying to disprove what they showed her.

He knew why she was so flighty. He'd said hello to the reason after all.

"I would have thought you'd go down to greet them, Saber," Lancer commented. "You don't strike me as a coward… planning, then?"

"...something like that," Saber agreed, letting out a sigh, "despite her promise, I didn't believe her at first… but the director has actually done it."

"She has a Holy Grail, it would be child's play for her to do so," Lancer pointed out. Swinging his legs back and forth, his eyes bled away to golden slits once more. "So? Do you have plans of meeting them? This is what you want."

Saber said nothing, but continued to stand at her post. Seagulls squawked around them, the wind rushed by, and the sound of the many Servants inside the complex barely reached them. The two were alone up here… and thus, only they would hear each other.

"...I'll let them explore," Saber settled, stepping away from the edge, "I need to think my words over, to make sure I say what I want to say. As clearly as possible."

"Hm, you already do that though?" Lancer pointed out.

Saber inclined her chin in acceptance of the point. "True, but words have to be the sharpest of swords, for true understanding. To reach from one monster… to another."

I should hope that everyone had a good Christmas, a little late but worth mentioning.