Fate / Lost World

Chapter Seven: The Second Night Part 3

"Hey. Are you okay?" The slight twitch of her shoulders probably told him, she had heard his question.

"Yes. I was just thinking about stuff. It won't happen again", the woman responded trying to cut off the conversation before it had even started. Luckily the chef stood behind her, not being able to see her face. She had a feeling if this guy had gotten a glimpse of the face she had made just now, he probably wouldn't have left her alone until she told him.

"You sure? If something's wrong you can talk to me, you know."

Why did he have to be so persistent every time she just wanted to be left alone? It's not like the two of them were close enough to have a heart-to-heart. They just met a few days ago and their relationship was limited to being no more than colleagues.

"I know… Shirou-san." Why he had insisted she called him by his first name, the woman didn't know. Neither did she care. It was somewhat uncomfortable calling a stranger by his first name but for the sake if not creating any unnecessary tension in her temporary work environment, she had complied.

Thinking back, she wondered if the redhead had even mentioned his family name at all…

"Well, if you're sure…" With those words the chef reluctantly got back to his work. Though she could still feel him taking glances at her from time to time.

"What should I do? If I don't intervene Lancer could-"

"Does it look like Lancer is going to kill Saber right now?", Assassin's master cut them off while continuing to clean the remaining dishes. Despite what the death of Saber would mean for her, the woman kept her voice calm.

Though there was a certain edge in her words she couldn't supress.

"No. They are wrapping more chains around Saber. It looks like they are securing her even more… but why?"

Assassin had reported how Saber hadn't been able to free herself from the chains restraining them despite using a huge amount of magical energy. Meaning she was defenceless against anything Lancer would do. Yet, Lancer hadn't taken advantage of that.

"It doesn't seem like their goal is to kill Saber. At least for now. But what do they stand to gain from capturing an enemy servant…?", the master wondered.

"…" Her servant didn't respond.

"Assassin?"

"I'm sorry, master. Lancer just stared in my direction. But I doubt that was coincidence. They know exactly where I am and that I'm still watching."

"So much for Caster being the only one able to find you while hiding.

After watching them fight, what's your estimate if you'd have to fight Lancer one on one?" Assassin's master had a feeling how things would go but Assassin themself knew their own abilities the best; her servant was also the one who had seen Lancer in action with their own eyes.

"Judging how the fight ended, Lancer was obviously holding back. Their proficiency with chains is incredible and they don't seem to have a limit on how many chains they can control simultaneously. Cutting off their limbs hasn't fazed them… and it looks like they can even regrow them. At least if their restored right foot is anything to go by."

Instead of a quick answer Assassin started to list their opponent's abilities.

"After seeing that I'm not sure cutting off their head would kill them; but that's just a feeling. Destroying their brain or heart would be the course of action with the highest chance of success. With my speed and skills, I should be able to pierce one of them before they even know what hit them.

That is, if I have the element of surprise.

But as long as Lancer knows I'm close, they won't drop their guard. Even after defeating Saber and having lost three limbs, they had been ready for an attack from me."

"I see. So, it really comes down to Lancer's pesky detection ability. Well, that's about what I expected. Your abilities just aren't suited for killing whatever superhuman being Lancer is", the brunette woman sighted somewhat resigned, "You're a manslayer, after all."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize. It's simply fact there are always going to be opponents we cannot overcome in a straight fight." The woman felt the burn scar on the right part of her face flare up in phantom pain. She had perfectly covered it up with make-up matching her egg-white skin tone and sometimes she forgot it was even there.

But the phantom pain that accompanied the memory of her being burned alive made it impossible for her to ignore its existence. This scar was always the first thing to come to her mind every time she was remined of her own weakness.

"Lancer is moving. They're going to where their master is fighting, and they're taking Saber with them."

"Follow them. Keep a distance but stay close enough to intervene if necessary", ordered Assassin's master, "It would be annoying if Saber were to die so early on."

The woman also wanted to know what Lancer and their master would do next. Whether capturing the servant of the sword was part of the plan or a lucky coincidence, the fact they kept her alive at all meant Saber's life had some value to them.

"What about Tohsaka? If Lancer joins their master, it doesn't look good for her."

"Tohsaka dying would be even more of an annoyance. But there's a limit to how much I'm willing to intervene to save her ass. Saving her servant is one thing, but to have to save the woman herself? That's where I draw the line. If the little genius can't survive until we meet again, whatever I was going to do would have been a waste of time anyway."

"Are you sure about this? You said the reason why you joined this war in the first place was-"

"I know. I know…", hearing the uneasiness in her own words, she realized once again how much influence this woman had over her. Heaving a deep sigh, the master decided, "Don't intervene for Tohsaka. Life isn't fair. If she dies before I get a chance to confront her, then that's it."

"I understand, if that's what you want." It didn't look like Assassin had any issues with her decision. Though her servant did seem somewhat reluctant when answering.

For a person who went down in history for being a killer, Assassin could be pretty soft-hearted at times.


"Did the bombs take her out?"

"No, she is still alive. She is at 2 o'clock from your current position and not moving."

"Understood. I need a reproduction of number 4."

"Understood, master." Following the response a handgun and magazine were formed from the earth in front of her. Without hesitation the girl took the weapon and put in the magazine.

Despite having seen this process a dozen times already, Rei was still fascinated by it.

Age of Babylon; Lancer's second Noble Phantasm.

By infusing the earth with magical energy, Lancer could transform it into whatever they wanted. Whether it was weapons, armour or some everyday object; there was almost no limit to what Lancer could produce. Even a protective shelter could be built in a matter of seconds; like the one she was standing in at this moment which had protected her from her opponent's spell and her own explosions.

It was thanks to this ability of their servant that Rei had decided to engage in a one-on-one fight with another master again despite how badly she had lost last time.

Though, to be precise, it was the combination of this Noble Phantasm and the mental link between master and servant which allowed the girl to hold out against a mage.

From what Rei had read, every master and servant pair possessed such a link. While it was primarily used to provide the servant with magical energy, with a bit of knowledge about magecraft, it could also be used to telepathically communicate with one's servant, sense their presence and a few other things. Rei had no knowledge of magecraft. However, the girl had a lot of experience piloting an EVA, which used a very similar connection between pilot and weapon; or rather the soul within the EVA. It had taken some practice during the day but she had mastered the method of communicating with her servant fairly well.

Using these two new assets, Rei could request Lancer's help even after splitting up to fight different opponents.

"How is your situation, Lancer? Saber seemed quite strong."

"She has been holding back. I believe her intention was to stall me until her master has killed you."

"I expected something like that." It was a sound plan which didn't even require the servant to reveal much of their abilities. If she were in Tohsaka's place, she would most likely chosen the same approach.

"For now, I am going to proceed with the capture plan."

"I am going to keep Tohsaka busy. If the situation requires it, I will request your assistance again."

With that the link went silent.

Turning around, Rei crawled through the small opening Lancer had left in the shelter. It was just big enough for her to get out but small enough none of the flames or shockwaves got inside.

The shelter was about two metres in radius and the walls were around a handbreadth thick.

Rei's knowledge of physics told her this construct shouldn't be standing after eight bombs went off around it. They had been enough to reduce the surrounding area where the two masters had been fighting to a small wasteland. At least that was Rei's first impression upon seeing the change in the landscape outside of her little her shelter.

Well, as far as she was able to see.

With all the smoke still in the air it was hard to see much farther than just a few metres ahead. The general darkness of the night didn't help either.

Fortunately, the black-haired girl hadn't left NERV without making off with just weapons like guns and explosives. Grabbing into her blue jackets inner pocket she retrieved a pair of goggles. They looked like a very slim version of the black night-vision goggles often used by soldiers and mercenaries.

Why was NERV in possession of items used for regular human warfare which would never see any use against the Angels? That was a question Rei had asked Akagi years ago when the girl had discovered such tools were developed within the NERV headquarters. She remembered the doctor's response like it had been yesterday: "The development and maintenance costs for Evangelion units has surpassed the prognosis of the higher ups, by a lot. It is impossible to get so much money to battle a threat most of them have doubts will even appear. So, they wanted something in return. Weapons and gear they could use against human threats."

After that Rei had to listen to Akagi complains. Starting with how difficult it was trying to resize the weapons they had already developed for the EVA's to a size human's could effectively use, and then how it took a lot less time to just invent new weapons and gear from scratch. Which ultimately lead to the founding a whole separate department for the development of weaponry for human use, just to keep getting NERV's funding approved every year.

It took around two and a half hours until Akagi finished the story of why and how the Scientific Department for Fund Keeping, as it was nicknamed withing NERV's headquarter, was founded and finally dismissed her. During that time the black-haired girl had gotten the impression the doctor did not like even being reminded of the existence of this part of NERV.

She made a mental note to never mention it in front of Akagi.

Rei wasn't sure why, perhaps it had been simply her curiosity or perhaps it had been Akagi's apparent dislike of this place, but the girl started to visit the parts of the NERV headquarter where this department was located from that day on. Though it didn't really matter to her why she had started to go there, Rei was just glad she had gotten the chance to learn about this department's existence and the kind of equipment they had there.

Otherwise, she might have come to Fuyuki with just the bare minimum.

Putting on the improved goggles, the girl's field of vision expanded immediately. The dust and smoke still lingered in the air limiting the distance she could see, but the darkness of night was no longer hindering her sight. With another flick of her finger, the goggles even ignored the whatever things were floating in the air and showed her the clear outlines of her opponent standing in the direction Lancer had described. Coming fresh out of the laboratories of NERV, this test type model marked and showed living beings by locating their A.T.-fields.

Rei's opponent's vision seemed to be as impaired as the girl's without the black goggles. The woman stood still, slowly turning her head, either trying to look for her within the smoke or trying to locate her by using her other senses. It didn't seem like she was hurt in any way besides the wound on her right arm.

For a moment, Rei wondered how the brunette woman had survived the eight miniature N2 bombs. While the radius of the generated explosion was extremely limited, the power remained the same. Meaning it should've obliterated anything within its radius.

But despite standing right in the middle of it, this woman was still standing.

The hour spent digging holes, putting the bombs into them and then filling them back up as inconspicuous as possible, felt very much like wasted time.

"Even bombs didn't come close to hurt her, yet Lancer broke down one of her shields with one kick. Have conventional weapons really no effect against magi?" Looking down at her hands, her eyes found the gun Lancer had created for her. "So far, Lancer's weapons are the only things which did have an effect against magecraft made defence. After switching to bullets made by Lancer, my bullets did scratch Tohsaka's barrier. I can only hope this weapon gives me a fighting chance… at least until Lancer has captured Saber."

Taking a deep breath, Rei set her eyes on the target.

The distance between the two masters was roughly 70 metres. A little too far but still close enough for her to be confident she would hit the woman.

Bringing up her gun, she took aim.

Pulling the trigger the sound of a gunshot rang through the air.

"Argh!" A short cry of pain from Tohsaka confirmed the hit.

However, instead of putting her hand over the wounded area like most people would, her opponent instead turned her head to her, where the origin of the projectile was. Watching Tohsaka bring up her left arm, Rei was reminded of how the magus had attacked earlier.

Before she knew it her instincts had taken over and the girl's body jumped to the side.

She hadn't seen anything but Rei was sure magical bullets had just passed through where she had stood a moment ago. Scrambling back up from the burned ground as fast as possible the fake black-haired girl put her back against the clay shelter made by Lancer.

"I didn't expect her to ignore the pain and shoot back right away. Although her outcry proves I did hit her and she indeed does still feel pain." Unfortunately, Rei had only been able to get in one hit but knowing she had been actually able to hit her opponent with her current weapon, did raise the girl's confidence slightly.

"Congratulations. You managed to surpass my expectations of you. I didn't expect you'd be able to hurt me with your little toys. But here I am, bleeding from a gunshot wound during a war between magi." Hearing the slow steps of the woman closing in on her while she spoke, Rei rummaged around her jacket's pockets.

Running would be futile, Tohsaka would catch up or hit her with a spell before long. Shooting her was unlikely to be successful when her opponent knew her general direction and was most likely expecting such a move. Hiding inside Lancer's construct would just result in her trapping herself. Calling Lancer with a Command Spell was out of the question.

"So, this is how you survived being in the middle of my spell and your own explosions." Judging by her words, Tohsaka was close enough to be able to see the clay structure which had protected her earlier. While her steps kept getting closer and closer, Rei silently retrieved another detonator and a grenade from her pockets. Both were small enough to easily fit into the palm of her hand. "Your servant's abilities sure are convenient. If they were paired with a competent master, they could even be a serious threat."

The obvious provocation went ignored. Instead, the girl's full attention was on the steps closing in. How long would it take her opponent to come into Rei's field of vision? From where would the young magus approach her? Should she let her opponent come to her?

A multitude of possible scenarios went through the girl's head.

"You call me incompetent, yet you are the one with a gunshot wound and an incapacitated right arm." Rei didn't exactly like using provocations. It had rarely any merit besides some minor self-satisfaction. She didn't see any point in using this kind of language in everyday situations like Soryu loved to do.

However, the black-haired girl couldn't deny it did have a certain merit when fighting people. Being able to irritate them during a fight increased the possibility of them making a fatal error.

"Then why don't you come here and fight me directly? Shouldn't it be simple for a competent master to fight a one-armed cripple?" Tohsaka's voice didn't show any signs of irritation. But the woman could also just be good at hiding her emotions. Judging from where the voice came from, the brunette had arrived at Lancer's construct and was now starting to circle around it.

"As I do need to survive out encounter, I am going to decline your offer. Even with one arm you can still shoot your magic bullets", Rei responded while crouching down and silently placing the grey coloured grenade on the burned earth. Then she took two steps back from the direction where Tohsaka was approaching.

Taking out a second grey grenade from her pocket, Lancer's master waited.

In one hand the explosive, in the other the clay gun and the thin, cylindrical detonator.

"Even though you're an amateur when it comes to magecraft, at least you're paying attention. I do wonder how-" Mid-sentence Rei heard something break from Tohsaka's position. Without even thinking about it she threw the second grenade in the direction from where she had expected her opponent to appear.

The brunette's voice broke off. After that silence reigned the area except the faint fighting noises in the distance from Saber's and Lancer's confrontation.

Rei heard her heart beat four times during the next two seconds.

When the third second arrived, the girl jumped back and pushed the detonator in her right hand.

A moment before the grenades went off, Rei noticed something coming down at the spot she had occupied before.

The whole area was bathed in a blinding light and an ear shattering noise.

Being developed for military use, her goggles had a very useful function of automatically adjusting her vision to the blinding light of a sudden flashbang. While she did have to endure the painful ringing of her ears and the dizziness accompanying it, it was still better than what her opponent was going through; being completely disoriented from a lack of sight and hearing.

Looking up there was no one there.

Suddenly hearing someone behind her, the black-haired girl turned around immediately. Aiming somewhat shakily at the noise behind her, she saw Tohsaka on her knee, eyes closed and holding one of her ears with her left, uninjured arm. The ringing was probably still painfully strong in her ears and Tohsaka's sight had yet to show her something other than a pure white canvas.

Rei knew this was her best opportunity.

She shot three times, barely able to register the otherwise ear-splitting gunshots with her still ringing ears.

However, none of the bullets hit their target. Instead, they were deflected by some kind of barrier, leaving only small scratches behind. Similar to Lancer's clay construct, the barrier surrounded Tohsaka on all her sides being around one metre in radius. It was basically see-through though by its slight reddish tint, Rei was able to make out the barrier's size.

"Don't think your little toys are going to damage this barrier. It was created with an amethyst." Standing back up, Tohsaka still had her eyes closed but it seemed like she knew exactly what had happened. She also seemed to know where the shots had come from, as she turned around to face the black-haired girl.

"You didn't lose your cool when throwing that grenade earlier. By throwing that thing in the direction I was approaching from, you predicted I would forgo that route and just jump over your little shelter."

This was bad. If her bullets couldn't penetrate the reddish barrier even with a gun made by Lancer, Rei herself had no means to attack. They also stood just about five metres apart, with nothing between the two masters.

For now, it didn't seem like her opponent was intent on finishing the fight right away. But if Tohsaka started shooting her magic bullets again, the girl would have nothing to hide behind.

"If you have the physical ability to jump over a two metres high obstacle, it would be foolish to assume you would not use it", Rei replied to her opponent's words.

She needed to buy some time to think of a plan.

"Lancer, how is the capture of Saber proceeding?"

"It should be done in around 90 seconds. Do you need my assistance, master?"

"Not yet. But be ready to create another shelter around me."

"Understood."

Giving Lancer the order to create another spear to kill Tohsaka was a possibility. However, their current course of action required both Saber to be captured and her master to be still alive. As Lancer was apparently close to achieving their objective, killing the brunette now would be rather contra-productive.

Having her servant ready to create another shelter, was the most she could do. That way the delay between her order and Lancer creating it would hopefully be as small as possible.

"I suppose you have a point. Still", the woman responded slowly opening her blue eyes again, "I didn't expect you to use flashbangs after you were ready to blow yourself up earlier. What happened? Was Lancer too busy with Saber to help you out?"

What could Rei say to stall for time? What could she say that wouldn't lead to Tohsaka shooting her right away?

"I used up all my bombs. All that is left are flashbangs and smoke bombs." That was a lie. She still had two bombs in her pockets. Though they were less powerful than the ones she had buried earlier that night.

"You used them all up with that one attack? Are you stupid?"

"I assumed these bombs were powerful enough to break through magical barriers. Evidently, they were still too weak."

"… you really have to no idea what magecraft can do, do you? How did you even learn about this ritual when you're not a magus? The Holy Grail War is top secret even among magi, you know."

At this point Tohsaka sounded pretty disillusioned about her opponent. Rei even got the impression the woman had let her guard down somewhat. Having a barrier the girl by herself couldn't break and keeping Lancer busy with Saber, justified her casual attitude to a degree.

This change in attitude did also work somewhat in Rei's favour.

"I read about it in a notebook from a former master." That statement was at least partially true. It wasn't how she had discovered the ritual itself but it was the source from where she had drawn most of her knowledge about it.

"You found out about it because someone didn't properly hide their records of it?", heaving a deep sigh the woman suddenly seemed tired. It reminded Rei of the way Akagi looked every time she asked the doctor anything not directly related to NERV. "Who was it? Caster's master?"

"Why do you assume the notebook belonged to the former master of Caster?"

"For looking very much like an ordinary high school student, that guy made a complete mess of the last grail war. He barged into our ritual, not even having the faintest idea about magecraft, and somehow accomplished to be the last one standing thanks to his abnormal Caster servant.

I wouldn't be surprised by him getting careless with his notes, not having any idea how much importance this ritual holds for actual magi."

None of the information was new for the black-haired girl. Though as what Tohsaka had said did match with what was written in the notebook, the events from the previous war recorded in it did seem to be accurate.

"I see. But your assumption is wrong. It was written by the former master of Assassin."

"Ah, so you're here because of that coward. The only master from the Fourth Holy Grail War whose name and face aren't known by anyone because they only ever acted from the shadows and vanished before the war had even concluded."

"He has not changed in that regard." Still only ever acting from the shadows.

"You don't seem to be on good terms with him. Can you tell me about the guy?" It was obvious Tohsaka was starting to prod her for information about the former master. Being the only one whose identity wasn't known in the fourth and being the one responsible for a non-magus to participate in the fifth war most likely made him a person of interest for the Tohsaka heir.

"He is…", Rei started. It didn't matter whether she told the woman in front of her about him. Rather this information would be very useful to stall for a little more time.

However, something or rather someone interrupted her.

"Saber has been successfully captured", Lancer's voice told her through their link.

"Secure her and come back."

"Right away, master."

"What?" Rei's attention was brought back to her brunette opponent, her mouth slightly open in an expression of surprise. "Can you repeat that?"

The woman's eyes were clearly focused on Rei but the girl was felt these words were not directed at her.

It seemed her servant had also informed her about the outcome of their fight.

This was not good.

With that any possibility of stalling for more time was out the window.

Instinctively, Rei brought her gun back up aiming at her opponent. She knew the bullets wouldn't do any damage beyond scratches, yet it was the only thing she could do. Running away-

A sharp pain shot through her stomach.

Followed by pain in her back and the back of her head.

What had happened?

Her consciousness was barely holding on.

Opening her eyes the black spots in her vision made it hard to see what was going on.

"Te… …em t. … .er go." Even her hearing didn't work properly.

She had been facing Tohsaka… had she attacked her?

After hearing Saber got captured, this would be a likely reaction from her master…

Putting her hands on the ground Rei tried getting back up. Leaning with her back against whatever wall was behind her, her wobbly legs slowly pushed her body away from the ground.

"Lancer…" She tried to call out to her servant.

"Tell them to let her go." This time her brain could make sense of the words again.

Moving her head to where she had heard these words from, she could see a shape which reminded her very much of Saber's master. The demand she had heard was also seeping with anger. This was more than enough evidence for the girl to conclude Tohsaka to be the assailant.

Why hadn't the girl thought of this possibility?

Of course, Saber would inform her master in case she got captured.

Of course, her master would immediately retaliate.

Servants were connected to their master.

Of course, Tohsaka would conclude the fastest way to set Saber free would be to kill Lancer's master.

After most of the black dots in her vision had vanished again, Rei found herself leaning her back once again against the clay shelter from Lancer. It seemed she had been thrown back to this spot. Or rather, her opponent had punched or kicked her back there. That would explain the pain she felt from her stomach region.

It had been the right decision to bring the prototype plug-suit modified for military use. She didn't want to think about what state she would be in without the shock-absorbing material somewhat cushioning her opponent's attack.

"I will only ask one more time; tell Lancer to let Saber go."

The woman's cold words made it obvious stalling any longer for Lancer to arrive was going to be a futile effort.

Without Lancer and Saber present, her position wasn't very good but she had to prepone their plan a little if she wanted to avoid any more attack from Tohsaka.

"I propose a deal." Tohsaka's glare already spelled out her response before her mouth was even able to form a single letter.

"A deal? Do you seriously think you're in any position to bargain? I could just kill you and Lancer would disappear. You should be overjoyed I even give you the option to keep living."

"I ordered Lancer to immediately kill Saber should I die. Lancer may disappear without me but they are going to remain long enough to take Saber with them."

It was a bluff.

After her brush with death just the evening before it had been obvious to her, she should also prepare for the possibility of her death.

But Rei didn't make any plans for such a scenario.

While it would be the smart thing to do, at this point, Rei was still too far away of having anything accomplished. No matter what plans she would come up with, none of them would save Shinji. None of them would change the fact that Shinji was still trapped within Unit 01. Rei couldn't see any possible scenario with the result of successfully bringing Shinji back if she died this early on.

Whether Lancer would kill the enemy servant and their master, it wouldn't accomplish anything in regards to her goal. Even if she powered Lancer up with all of her Command Spells, without being contracted to a master they would vanish before they could obtain the Holy Grail.

The war had just begun.

The girl hadn't accomplished anything yet.

As such she didn't make any plans for after her death.

Before she could allow herself to include the variable of her death in any possible scenario, she needed to accomplish something.

However, no one but herself and Lancer knew about this.

Tohsaka observed the girl before her for a few seconds. Then…

"Saber. By my Command Spell I order you…" The red mark on Tohsaka's right hand started to glow.

"Wait! That is-" Alarmed Rei tried to intervene. However, the woman ignored her, continuing with her command.

"Come to my side, immediately." This was the first time the girl was able to perceive magical energy. She couldn't see it. She couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was or what it did. But she knew there was more to the shiver running down her spine than just her knowledge this magus had just used one of the most powerful tools available to a master.

When Lancer had told her even one of the Command Spells contained a massive amount of magical energy, they hadn't understated it. Even someone with no experience in magecraft could apparently perceive it when one was being used.

A second passed.

Then another.

When five seconds had passed Tohsaka brought up her right arm. Seemingly having forgotten about the hole in it.

Looking the back of her hand, there were only two red strokes left. The largest one, a crescent-shaped line, had almost completely faded away.

"What is this?", the brunette woman asked herself in shock.

"You should have listened. I tried to stop you." After Tohsaka's attention was back on her opponent, Rei continued, "Even using a Command Spell will not free Saber from Lancer's chains."

"Are you saying your servant is not only able to restrain someone like Saber but also has the ability to overcome the power of…", suddenly her words trailed off before a look of realization took over her face, "Don't tell me, you-"


"Rei!" Out of nowhere another voice interrupted the Tohsaka heir.

Both masters turned to where the voice, or rather the shout had its origin, their conversation forgotten for the moment.

"Rei! Are you alright?!", a woman in her late twenties shouted while running towards them. The dust and smoke had mostly settled, so the both of them could watch her run still being a few hundred metres away. She was wearing a red jacket, a black top and a black skirt. The latter seeming to be shorter than it was supposed to be, like always.

Or at least that was Rei's opinion which she had never voiced out aloud.

"Who's she? Part of your entourage?" Apparently putting the issue of her captured servant aside for the moment, the Tohsaka heir asked, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

"No. She is the supervisor from my former workplace."

"Former… aren't you in middle school?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Then shouldn't you be too young to work yet?" For a moment, Rei wondered if she should tell the woman where she had worked before answering:

"Technically, yes. But this secret agency also hires children around middle school age." With Katsuragi around it would be only a matter of time until her former occupation came up one way or another. The girl concluded it would most likely be the better course of action of vaguely mentioning some things.

It would hopefully make things just a little less difficult later on when dealing with Katsuragi.

"Secret agency, I see… that explains your bombs and other weapons…"

"You do not seem to be surprised." This was not exactly the reaction Rei had expected.

"While it doesn't sound very realistic and it would bring up dozens of other questions, you having been part of some secret organization would explain at least some things. So, I'll go along with your story for now. Mind explaining why your former supervisor followed you to Fuyuki?" At this point the woman's whole demeanour had become very nonchalant. It was… helpful for the current situation to say the least. But Rei couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious about this very convenient change in Tohsaka's attitude.

"I did not part with them on amicable terms. She is most likely here to bring me back by force."

"Would you be so kind to just forget about the war and go back with her?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. But you can't fault a woman for trying." The woman let out a semi-disappointed sigh before looking back to Katsuragi who was finally in earshot of the master's conversation. "How much does she know about your situation?"

The newcomer finally stopped around ten metres away from them. The first thing she did after coming to stop was pulling out her gun and aiming it at the Tohsaka heir.

"Put your hands up!"

Even when trying to adopt the perspective of a third party, Rei couldn't figure out what had been going on in Katsuragi's head for her to act the way she had.

Did her former supervisor really think pulling out a gun in this situation was the best course of action?

For all the major had seen during her time at NERV, she could not make heads or tails of this situation.

She came running immediately when she had heard explosions going off inside the park. Just that was alarming enough but when gunshots followed a few minutes after the explosions, she knew with absolute certainty she had made the right decision to search the area around the Fuyuki Central Park after what the white-haired boy had told her earlier the day.

Even the report of two agents who apparently had earlier heard dozens of gunshots close to the riverside had thankfully not made her leave the area.

Otherwise, Misato wouldn't be standing in front of the girl she had been looking for.

For a few seconds she had doubted whether it was really her. But the photos and video recordings which had led the major to this town were proof the girl before her was really the First Child.

Rei looked like a completely different person.

Short, black-dyed hair in what looked like a pixie cut.

Wearing a blue jacket over something like a black plug-suit.

Black goggles which reminded her of a certain type of equipment used in military operations.

Red eyes with a look she had never before seen in the quiet girl's eyes.

Misato didn't know what exactly had come over her when she had started running and shouted the girl's name. Neither had she paid much attention to the desolate area the First Child stood in, nor the woman standing right next to the girl. Perhaps it was the relieve she had felt upon seeing her again, safe and sound, which made her act that way.

However, when she was finally just a few steps away from them the woman's eyes landed the girl's companion's right arm.

Seeing the wound on the unknown woman's arm – which was basically a clean hole right through the middle of the arm – the destroyed surrounding and the previous explosions and gunshots made their way to the forefront of her chain of thought.

"How much does she know about your situation?"

Hearing the woman's question combined with being freshly reminded about the earlier happenings, Misato's first reaction was to pull her gun, aim it at the stranger and ordered her to put up her hands.

Who else but the woman could be responsible for the explosions and gunshots? After all there was no one else around.

However, even after being held at gunpoint, there was no reaction from the woman. She just kept looking annoyed at Misato.

"What's with this strange mood?", the violet-haired woman wondered. This was certainly not a reaction she had ever seen from anyone being held at gunpoint.

"Forget I asked. From that reaction I can tell she probably knows even less than you do."

"She is only here to bring me back. I have not told anyone about your… project."

Now, they were talking as if she wasn't even there.

What was going on?

What was this 'project' Rei was talking about?

"I said put your hands up! And you Rei! You owe us an explanation. What happened? Why did you just leave without saying anything?"

"I see you're at least aware of some customs", looking back to Rei, the brunette woman once again ignored the order, "Before we were interrupted, you said you wanted to bargain. How do you want to do this? You want to make the deal now or do we take care of your former supervisor first?"

"I suppose resolving this interruption first will prevent more information leaks about your project later on."

How could these two just keep going?

"This isn't funny Rei! Stop ignoring me, this is-"

"Lancer, chain her." Before Misato knew it both her arms were chained against her torso.

"What?! Where did these chains come from?" The woman immediately tried wriggling out them. Without success.

"Is that alright, master?" Hearing another unknown voice from behind her, the violet-haired woman turned around. Her thoughts froze up when she came face to face to a green-haired person in a red and white tunic and a violet haired woman floating behind them.

No. That wasn't quite right. She didn't float, but was hanging in the air by the same chains which were used to bind Misato. The woman was chained up even more than the major was. Her whole torso was covered by chains. One couldn't even make out her arms under all of the silver chains.

What kind of surreal sight was this?

"Please gag her too. I do not think anyone of us wants her to interrupt us every other sentence while we discuss what we are going to do."

"What?! Rei, you-" Before she could get out another word, some kind of white fabric was put in her mouth and bound at the back of her head.

For a second Misato's thoughts became blank.

How did she get in this situation?

Who were these strange people?

Where had these chains come from?

What was Rei even doing in this town?

How did things become this messed up?

She had just wanted to bring back Rei to where she was needed!

Why the hell was she now treated like a troublemaker everyone wanted to dispose of!?


Author's note:

Well, this chapter was originally planned to be a little longer. But I think this scene is a nice way to end it, so I decided to end it a little earlier.

As things stand now, Rei is at least somewhat capable of holding off enemy masters with Lancer's help. She might even be able to win when killing her opponents is an acceptable outcome. Although if Rei should confront the Tohsaka heir again like this, it's very unlikely Rin will be as lenient as she was this time. Especially after she already lost one of her Command Spells.

I was debating whether to make Misato's appearance at the end of this chapter more serious, like maybe actually letting her shoot Rin in the leg. But I'm pretty happy with how this scene came out. Having Misato point her gun at them but getting pretty much ignored just felt like the obvious thing to happen. After having to survive magical bullets, fire spells, bombs and spears emerging from the earth just minutes earlier, a gun isn't really that intimidating anymore, right?

Anyway, that's it for now. Please look forward to how the two masters are going to deal with their little troublemaker in the next chapter!

-LuckySevenChomei