Emiya III

"Got sight of the island!?"

Emiya felt a being on his forehead nearly pop. He glared down at the blue haired man standing some fifty feet down beneath him, looking up at him with a wolfish grin across his face. Cu Chulainn was mocking him, as he sat looking out for yet another day up in the masts of the ship they had found to get them to their next set of comrades.

"For the last time," Emiya growled, using the last bit of his restraint to keep his voice relatively calm, "I'll let you know when I spot this island when I actually see it. So you can stop asking me, and just go shut up and vomit over the side of the ship," he growled, again focusing his eyes down towards the horizon, "Save me the trouble of gutting you myself."

"...," Cu remained quiet for a moment, "Got si-"

Emiya tossed Kanshou towards Cu, who backflipped away from the strike that thunked into the wood. The blade disappeared from protruding from the wood, and was back in his hand. He then dissipated it, and groaned, as he returned to watching the horizon.

'Six weeks,' he gritted his teeth, 'Six fucking weeks.'

He had been angry about how slow everything had been during those first two days, only finding two of his comrades during what had been in his experience, around a third of the time most singularities took. With only a sixth of the way to completion, two out of twelve missing servants recovered, even after two days he felt like he was far behind the timeline he needed to be on if they were going to get back to the Storm Glider and the rest of their comrades.

Well, now, a month and a half later, he was barely containing his rage. First, after getting off the slave ship, with them basically sending the slave crew on their way, they had looked over where the compass was pointing now that they were all together. Managing to get some rudimentary maps to their rooms in Qarth, they found that the compass was likely pointing to the cities of Slaver's Bay. Having discovered that, one, there were cities that were known as Slaver Cities, and two, that they were almost certainly where their comrades were currently residing had been enough to get them to get a move on. Especially since this was apparently one thousand miles from Qarth itself, even with a straight shot. After a few hours of discussion, and one full day rest, Emiya had thought they'd be ready for another couple of days long run across the coast until they reached their destination, taking into account that the three servants would need to carry along a young boy in Colan who would need stops to be allowed to adjust.

'It only it had been that simple.'

After a two day delay to plan and get supplies, including tents and cooking implements, they were on their way. Emiya had been certain they would be at the closest of these Slaver cities, Astapor, in a few days at most. He had even thought they had been making good time as they sprinted along the coast for the first half of a day, making good time, even if they had been forced to slow down for the boy they were carrying. The day had been exceedingly hot, with the sun right above them, but it hadn't been nearly the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life, even running at nearly fifteen miles an hour. At that pace they would get to Astapor in ten days, what with having to stop a few times to look after Colan.

Then he woke up that night, a wet towel over his head and the stars dotting the sky. He'd passed out during the run, apparently having had an attack that had knocked him in mid stride, which had just sent him sprawling along the dunes. They'd been forced to make camp and set up their tents for a while in order to allow him to wake up, and check to see what was wrong. Emiya, a bit weak, had tried to get them to begin pushing again that night, but that had been roundly rejected, both for his sake, and for his companions.

Apparently, despite everything, both Cu and Xuanzang had felt exhausted by the push too, they had just not been willing to say it. Their bodies were still partially human, Cu far more so than Xuanzang, so the pace they had been going, which was honestly only middling for a Servant, had been crushing for them. Xuan admitted that she hadn't spoke up before because she didn't want to be the reason for any delay, but now, with all of them exhausted from the push, they were going to have to just lay around and try and recover.

'To believe we are all so weak,' Emiya clenched his hand. They were all still superhuman, but these more human bodies were still holding them back. Any ordinary man would fall beneath them, hell most extraordinary ones too, but compared to what they usually could do…

The discussion of their next move had been humbling. They had already known they weren't capable of the same feats they had been as full servants. That they knew that their comrades were even more human than they were only made that epiphany hurt worse. They knew they were going to have to get to Astapor and their comrades as quickly as possible, and that was going to mean they were probably going to have to travel like the natives. By sail.

They reached the nearby port of Qarkash later the next day, as it had only been a few miles from where they had camped. It took a day, and spending quite a hefty chunk of of the money and treasure they'd taken from Asyrn's ship, not like the slaver would use it, and they'd bought passage for the four of them to Astapor by the ship. That trip would take three and a half weeks, and while Emiya had been about to try and find another ship, by the time they'd finished asking about the harbor, they'd realized that this was probably the best they were going to be able to do.

So they paid up, only for them to be delayed a couple of days by storms, which had only added to Emiya's stress, something that he knew was causing his companions to get more stressed out themselves. It was a bit of a vicious cycle, and the entire trip had been one of stress. But finally, after weeks of simply staring out into the sea, they'd made it into the gulf of grief, and soon turned into slaver's bay. Their patience had finally been rewarded, as they made the turn past the peninsula that had once held the Empire of Ghis, and within a day, were seeing the mighty harbor of Astapor come into view. While it was supposedly much diminished in comparison to its once glorious past, and it was nowhere near the size of Qarth's harbor, the sight of dozens of ships making their way in and out of the harbor had been a relief to Emiya.

At that moment, Emiya pulled out the "compass" and smiled when he saw that the compass was in fact pointing towards the port they were about to enter. That meant that the Servant they were looking for was still here, that the wait hadn't been worth nothing, and that despite all his angst, his mission was still on track.

And then, something strange happened. The compass, that had been pointing directly at the port, began to move slightly. Over the next few minutes, as dozens upon dozens of the ships departed from Astapor, the compass began to turn, as though the target was moving. Finally, when a small flotilla passed their ship as it came into port, the compass flipped around, and was pointed directly at the ships that were departing the city. Emiya, who had been in denial through most of the process, felt his eye twitch when it was no longer in doubt.

The servant that had been Astapor had just left.

After several minutes of unconstrained swearing, so bad that Xuanzang had felt compelled to cover young Colan's ears, they had asked the captain of the ship to take them in to follow the disappearing convoy. Of course the captain had said no, since he was already going to Astapor anyway, and he had cargo to deliver. Emiya had managed to calm down enough not to threaten the man who could have them thrown overboard, so they soon found themselves in the port.

The time had not been good. Astapor had earned its reputation as a Slaver City, and the infrastructure of the port was clearly not well maintained. They also weren't too open to talking to strangers, meaning it took almost half a day for them to figure out where that set of ships that had been carrying their comrade had gone off to. When they were informed that the ships were sailing for a large gathering in New Ghis, they had again been stonewalled by a refusal to give them passage. They'd already used a large amount of the treasure they'd taken from Asryn to pay for the first ship, and Astapor's traders were less friendly to outsiders. This was alongside the fact that, because of how large the fleet of ships going to New Ghis was, none of the ships in harbor were planning on going out to that island in the first place, so they couldn't just pay to go along with an already planned voyage.

By the end of the day, they had been unable to get a single ship willing to take them along. They had been delayed by weeks, had just missed meeting with one of their comrades, and also didn't even have enough money to rent a set of rooms or hire a ship. So, looking at the predicament, they had decided that there was only one option moving forward.

They would have to steal a boat.

They waited until the very early morning, having allowed themselves a few hours of rest, before stalking the docks to find a ship that four people could sail on their own. They found one, the port had been depleted of so many sailors and guards that there was hardly any security whatsoever to guard the boats, and they had managed to find a small caravel. It took only an hour to untie it, and they were soon in the middle of the water. They were lucky that Cu had spent so much time on boats that he'd managed to learn the basics of sailing, and by the time the sun was up, they were already out of view of Astapor.

But that had still meant nearly two weeks sitting on a boat. Emiya couldn't help but look down at the little sack containing the transportation rings and, more importantly, the communication device up to Storm Glider.

'I've been on a mission for nearly seven weeks,' he thought, adding the three to four days it had taken to Cu and Xuan, 'Yet they haven't tried to reach out to me once,' his mind, already prone to pessimism, wandered to a dark place, 'Did something happen up there? Was perhaps the Storm Glider destroyed?'

He thought about it for a moment, and flashes of Master, Kitsrugu, Illya, Irisveil, Boudica and several other friends he made on Chaldea flashed before his mind, before he shook his head. If the Storm Glider had been destroyed, more than likely he would have dissipated as his connection to the throne of heroes would have been severed.

'Perhaps then, they've been forced to retreat, and are outside communication range,' he considered. That was a better explanation, though he wasn't sure how many dimensions a servant could be from a master before their connection was cut, and that would result in the same situation, 'Maybe then the communication device simply wasn't tested well enough, and it isn't working?' That would perhaps be the best explanation of the failure of communication, though he somewhat doubted that Da Vinci would make a device that wouldn't work.

'If only I could reach out to Storm Glider,' he thought, 'Just give them an update, and see if they can send us some more support,' he then shook his head, 'Come on man, get a grip on yourself. You've been entrusted with this mission, and you can't just act like that pathetic boy, waiting for strangers and better people to save you.'

He returned his eyes upward, and then felt them bulge. He smiled, and then shouted down to his comrades on the deck below.

"Land Ho!"

"Alright!" Colan shouted. The poor boy was holding up fairly well…for a ten year old. He knew he was on a legendary quest, and he was determined to live up to the examples set by his father and "Lady Xuan". Emiya couldn't help but shake his head at the boy as Colan turned and pointed at the land mass while excitedly talking about New Ghis to Xuanzang.

'Poor kid can't even comprehend what sort of woman he's talking to,' Emiya observed that Xuan was smiling softly and nodding at the boy as he explained the history and culture of the city they were about to dock at, 'An ordinary young boy infatuated with a beautiful Heroic Spirit. That never ends well.'

Emiya pushed himself to his feet, and then gripped at one of the ropes hanging off the mast, allowing him to swing down to the ship's deck, and join his team. Cu then had the gall to roll his eyes at the landing.

'Oh, I'm being dramatic, huh,' Emiya seethed, glaring at the blue haired lancer as he walked up to his three companions, 'Shove it up your ass dog breath.'

"So this is New Ghis?" he said aloud, his eyes catching the shoreline. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of boats coming, going and staying in the port. They were of all kinds, from small caravels like the one they were on, to mid sized junks like the Slaver in Qarth, to massive hulks that were far larger than a medieval style ship should probably be capable of being, at least one hundred meters long. There were flags all along the ships, from all colors of the rainbow, with dozens of different sigils and symbols sewn into them, "Honestly, seems a lot more like Qarth than it does like Astapor."

"Kind of strange, isn't it," Cu said, nodding as he joined Emiya in staring, "Might just be cultural nostalgia, but I can't for the life of me understand why New Ghis is so desperate to be part of Slaver's Bay, when in reality it's much more of a normal major port hub," he rubbed his chin, "I've been here before, and what's really surprising about it is just how much it's chosen to try and model itself on places like Astapor, or rather what it thinks Old Ghis was, with Astapor and the others as a model."

"But," Emiya continued, "It's strange isn't it, Old Ghis was apparently destroyed five thousand years ago," he then raised up a hand and waved as he saw another ship, a carrack with what he guessed was the symbol of the Spice Traders, pass by, "Doesn't it seem like they're a bit too desperate to copy something that's been dead longer then almost all of recorded human history?"

"I don't think so," Xuanzang spoke up, causing both Emiya and Cu to blink and look back at her, "China still relies on literature, philosophy and architecture from three millennia before we were called to Chaldea, why would it be strange for this city to try and emulate their ancestors?"

"I suppose," he sighed, "But even acknowledging that, doesn't it seem strange to the degree that they do so. Like you said, China, Egypt, most of the west with Rome and Greece, all of them try to learn from their glorious ancestors. But most aren't trying to reform a nation that's been dead for that long, especially since, from what you told me, there aren't any real records or histories of what Old Ghis was like," he sighed, "Cause at times, it just feels like the only thing we know about Ghis was that it had slavery, and it introduced slavery to the Valyrians."

Emiya had tried to get as much history of the world as he could over the past month and a half, since he had basically had nothing better to do while waiting around on the ship. Xuanzang had been able to go on a bit about Yi Ti, but had admitted that she had been a poor peasant girl most her life, so she didn't have much else to offer beyond the basic ideas of the Five Forts and the constant different changing colors of the dynasties that ruled that nation. Sounded again like an orientalist fantasy cooked up on the fly if you asked Emiya, but honestly wasn't worth really discussing.

Cu hadn't been much more helpful, as he apparently hadn't really been that interested in learning about the histories and cultures of where he was fighting, other than that where he was from, Westros, was more medieval european, and that they didn't have slavery like the many cities of the East. He'd spoken about serving an important house in the north of the continent, called the Starks, and how he'd gotten that position because he had actually gone and killed one of their hunting dogs as a four year old while trying to fight over a rabbit.

'Some things never change,' Emiya barely had contained his laughter at how Cu's legend had repeated. And of course, Cu had been taken in by the Starks, and served as their new dog for a decade before earning his freedom in something called Robert's Rebellion, that had ended the previous dynasty ruling that continent and replaced it with a new one called the Baratheons, and had taken off East to enjoy a life as a mercenary. Emiya kept an eye on Cu for a moment, 'He still seems to have an affection for the Starks too. Every time I tried to get him to give me some details, he'd deflect, and we'd talk about something else,' he felt himself let out a sigh.

'Guess all dogs remain loyal to their masters.'

In fact, the one who'd given Emiya the most knowledge had been Colan. The boy had been desperate for entertainment while traveling the continent he and Cu had been on, Essos. While he didn't know much about anything in Westeros or beyond Jade Sea, he had bought an old book of legends of the Valyrian Freehold. A book on the history of the dragonlords. Once a group of shepherds on a set of massive volcanoes, the white haired, purple-eyed dragon riders had come to dominate the entire continent for thousands of years, until they had been destroyed around four centuries ago by the massive volcanoes erupting and destroying their capital and killing off most of them. Which, considering their penchant for conquest, slaughter, and slavery, had seemed mostly well earned if Emiya was being honest. And yet, at least the book gave Emiya some context for the places he was going to be going to find his comrades.

"I guess that might even be why New Ghis is acting like this," Xuanzang offered, bringing Emiya back from his considerations, "They are descendants of a mighty power that was defeated and conquered. And now that conqueror is gone, why not attempt to take what you saw as a birthright that was taken from you?"

"That…makes more sense," Emiya watched as they passed more and more ships as they got closer to port, "Trying to claim that you should be the power now that there is a vacuum by claiming descent from a long lost civilization. Honestly, not that bad a strategy."

"No, it isn't," Cu's eyes were dancing across the docks as they were approaching. Emiya took a glance to see what he was looking for, and then followed his eyes to see that he was observing what looked like hundreds of armored men walking around in small squads along the docks. They were all around, but they were concentrated around some of the largest of the hulks, the hundred meter long ships that were sitting next to the largest of the piers out to sea. Those ships all had the same symbol, a massive Harpy with swords held in its claws.

There were dozens of these ships, and he could see massive crates and jars lined up against them. While the soldiers on their sides were clearly armed, many of them were taking time to load the ships themselves. He could see what looked like a group of officers meeting with a high raised man in a long robe, who was pointing to the different ships, possibly assigning them to where they would be going.

"Are they planning an invasion or something?" he asked, causing Cu to nod.

"Looks like it," he said, pointing at what looked like a massive rack of shields being lifted up into the ship, "Preparing to send out men with a lot of weapons and armor," his finger moved up towards the symbol on the sails, "And the harpy should be holding lighting, not swords. I'm guessing that means that the ships of New Ghis have declared war on whoever they are invading."

"Great," Emiya looked at the harpy, and then back at their own flag atop their sail to see a Harpy holding lighting, like Cu had pointed out.

He blinked for a moment.

"The Harpy is a symbol of the slave cities, right?" he asked, and he could see both Cu and his son nod at that question. He felt some sweat begin to drop along the back of his head.

"So how are we supposed to explain to customs that the four of us," he gestured with his hands towards the group, "Came into possession of a ship that is owned by a member of one of the Slaver cities?"

Cu, Colan and Xuanzang all blinked for a second. They then looked up at their mast, and stared at the symbol of Astapor, and then down at themselves, who bore no resemblance to people who actually owned ships like this. For a moment, they just stood in silence, the time before them docking and having to explain what they had been doing slowly slipping away.

"Ah," Cu rubbed the back of his head, "This may be a problem."

"So, you are from Astapor, correct?" the customs agent was looking at Cu with an eyebrow raised, two guards standing behind them, massive shields gleaming in the midday sun. He was an educated man with an average build, and on his face was a certain skepticism as he looked over the caravel that was behind Emiya and Cu.

Cu, for his part, was dressed in a robe they had found in one of the lower holds of the caravel. It was made of fine silk, though it was a strange robe that required Cu to hold the fabric together with one of his left hand, leaving only his right hand free. He made a gesture with his free right hand similar to one they had observed from one of the Masters in Astapor, and smiled back.

"Of course I am," Cu said with the closest he could approximate the dialect of the men who had been selling slaves in Astapor. Which, somehow, was actually rather well, which made Emiya at least feel like this might not be a complete disaster, "How dare you ask me that question."

"Well then," the bureaucrat they were speaking with seemed a bit put off by the declaration, but had evidently bought it enough to at least not send the guards after them right away, "I must ask, what is your purpose here in New Ghis?"

Cu smiled, and waved his free hand wide, "My purpose is to purchase some new wares for my market in Astapor. I have been running low on stock," his eyes pointed directly towards what looked like a massive stand where dozens of men and women in chains were standing, "I could use a new set of exotic products."

The man looked back, and then returned his attention to Cu, a mix of exasperation and boredom over his face. He then pulled up the paper, "Could I please see your papers so we can register you at the Portmaster?"

"Papers," Cu didn't miss a beat, even though Emiya knew he had been thrown off guard by the suggestion of papers, "Of course we can get my papers," he turned to Emiya, and waved his hand in a dramatic fashion, "Go get my papers now Yemia."
"Master," Emiya was also dressed in a disguise, though unlike Cu, it wasn't an ornate set of robes from a wealthy slave owner. Rather, it was an extra plain tunic, much like one would expect from a slave. Alongside that, he had large metal rings around his neck and wrists to signify his status as a slave. All to help move along the illusion, "We didn't bring the papers on this voyage. You said you di-"

SMACK

Emiya felt a pain on his forehead as he was knocked onto his ass by the strike. It'd been planned for such an emergency, though Emiya imagined that Cu would always take advantage of times to smack him in the face.

"You fool!" Cu shouted, "How could we no-"

"Ser," the customs agent interjected, still more bored than anything else, "Could you please tell me why someone looking to buy a set of slaves would arrive in port without the papers showing they have the rights to do so," the two guards stepped forward, weapons not yet drawn, but both of them looking like they might if they needed to, "It is against the law to enter port without express per-"

"Is something wrong?"

Emiya sighed in relief, glad that the secret weapon of the ruse. He looked up, and saw Xuanzang over the side of the caravel. She was in her robe, but she had a similar steel ring around her neck, though it hung loosely along her shoulders rather than tightly around her neck like Emiya's was. She was specifically looking at Cu, and, as instructed, doing her best to look worried. And finally, to wrap up the whole picture, Colan was right next to her, an arm around the boy, as though to protect him.

Emiya looked over at the Customs Agent and the guards, and saw that their expression had changed. Most of the building hostility was gone, and in place was a bit of recognition. Cu leaned forward to the bureaucrat, and shook his head.

"Look," Cu said, trying to keep his voice down, "This is a pleasure cruise I was taking with my family, but if my Shrew of a wife found out that I wasn't here on business, but…well," he gestured with his head towards Xuanzang and Colan, "She'd probably go out and sell them behind my back. I meant to bring my papers, but we lost them in the shuffle of getting out here as quickly as we could."

"I see," the bureaucrat nodded, and it was clear that he actually did, at least from Emiya's view. Maybe this was a common occurrence for Masters of the Slaver Cities, maybe this Customs Agent just really hated his wife, but he seemed to at least understand the desire for the cover story. This seemed to be shared by the two men behind him, one of whom was looking shaking his head in exasperation and another who was taking time to look over Xuanzang with a hungry eye. The less perverted guard caught that and slammed his elbow into his colleagues side, and brought him out of his leering.

"Is there any way we can just say I had the papers," Cu then grasped the hand of the custom's agent, and pulled away quickly. Emiya could see that where Cu's hand was, a shiny gold piece of jewelry sat. The customs agent looked down, looked up, and then nodded. The two men standing behind him looked at Cu, and then Cu sighed, before shaking both of their hands as well, leaving other shiny golden objects in their hands as well. The three looked at one another, nodded, and then stood at attention.

"It's quite clear to me that you have every right to be here," the man said, "I and my compatriots shall leave you and your," he looked up at Xuanzang and Colan once more, "Family, to enjoy the sights and sounds of New Ghis. I can assure you it will be an experience you will not forget."

"Excellent," Cu clapped his hands together, "Any suggestions for amusements for my family and I to enjoy?"
"Hmmm," the bureaucrat rubbed his chin for a moment, though any tension had disappeared from the conversation. As Emiya forced his way back to his feet, making sure to take as long as possible to sell his status as a slave, the agent looked back at his guards, "The Great Games are in two days, yes?"

"Of course," the one who had been staring at Xuanzang's chest for too long said, "Biggest pit fights in centuries. Grazdan has said he wants the greatest celebration since the fall of Old Ghis to happen before the Cucerine begins."

"Cucerine?" Cu asked.

"Oh, right, you were out to see while the Ravens went out," the agent nodded, "Five days ago, the Conclave of New Ghis was held with the Masters of your city and your sister cities. Approval was officially given to name our Tyrant to Emperor of Ghis. The games are meant to be a celebration of this great achievement, and a reward to all of the Lockstep Legionnaires that are preparing for our next campaign."
"I see," Cu made a gesture of looking over at the massive ships that were on the larger docks, "That would explain the warships," he then looked back, "So, should I be worried about being made a hostage, or…"

"No good Master," the response was swift, as though the bureaucrat was trying to keep this situation calm, "We shall be landing in Yunkai, actually, and the first of our conquests will be Lhazar," a small remote kingdom of shepherds that gathered in a few minor city states, "They will be the first of our reclamations. Once they have been brought to heel, we will turn our attention to the North," and for the first time, Emiya could see some excitement in the man's eyes, "We will strike at the Dothraki."

Cu coughed. Emiya could tell why. The Dothraki were monstrous people, those who would charge into certain death and never retreat. If these people were planning on taking on the Dothraki, and winning apparently, then they were either extremely foolish…

Or they'd found some kind of edge beyond this plane's comprehension.

"Well, I wish you all the luck in the world," Cu nodded, doing his best to maintain his composure. He then held out his hand, and Xuanzang gently took it, gently gliding herself and Colan down to the dock, "Now, if you will excuse me," he smiled at Xuanzang, who did her best to return the smile, "I will take my leave. Come Yemia, bring my things."

"Yes Master," Emiya said weakly. They passed the three port workers, and soon were on the marble streets, and before those three could even consider any irregularities, had disappeared into the crowds.

"If I ever call you Master again, I swear to God I'll slit my own throat."

Once they had managed to get away from the prying eyes of the guards, they had taken off all the costumes and trinkets designed to build up their story. It had taken about an hour to find a private place, or at least a private place that wasn't also a brothel, though they had managed to end up at a small bathhouse, and from there, had put on their normal clothes.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Xuanzang asked, looking at the discarded pieces of metal, "What if we are seen by those guards or that customs agent again?"

"Hopefully," Emiya said, "we'll already be on our way out by the point we go by the docks again," he thought of the massive ships around them, "And then we can get a move on out of this Rome Rip-off, and get back to finding the rest of our comrades."

"Speaking of which," Cu's head twisted towards Emiya's pocket, "Got a read on our next servant."

"Oh, right," Emiya pulled out the compass from the small bag of specific devices he had been keeping in his pocket. He held the compass out, and saw that it was pointing deeper into the island, towards what the main hill, and the massive storied buildings that likely made up the governing center of New Ghis, "Guess that makes sense," he whistled, "Like we thought, this servant is likely a pit fighter."

Pit fighting was, as Cu had described it during their voyage, basically gladiatorial combat. Likely, with a set of big games occurring, this missing servant was likely one of the fighters that was going to occur, having been brought from Astapor for the celebration. It made sense, especially with how even though Cu and Xuanzang had been human, they had been peak human performance, if not perhaps a bit beyond that. They had grown with the return of their memories as servants, but they would have been great pit fighters if born into that situation. And considering how far apart Cu and Xuanzang had been born, it didn't take too much of a guess that this missing servant had been born a slave, and their prowess had gotten them sent into the pits.

"So," Cu was looking out among the crowds, and watching to see if anyone was keeping an eye on the party, "Do we just walk up to that big amphitheater, demand entrance, and hold up the compass until we recognize a servant?" he held out his hand, with two more pieces of jewelry like what they had given to the guards at the port, "I don't think we have enough to buy a gladiator."

"You think?"

"I wasn't working in the slave trade, jackass," Cu growled, and Emiya nodded, especially when he saw an equal glare coming from Colan. Somehow, the boy just managed to get him much more than Cu did.

"Fine," Emiya sighed. He held up the compass, while tying the bag with the rest of the devices from Chaldea, the rings and the failed communication device, to his waist. He forced himself past the three remaining members of the party, before waving back at them, "Come on, let's head over that way, and we can come up with a plan once we get there."

The walk through the city wasn't that difficult. The wide streets, the marble and stone, the toga like wardrobes. Honestly, Emiya couldn't help but notice the similarities to Rome from the second singularity.

"That was fun, Umu."

"Fucking Rome," the charge through the Prateorian Guards. Rescuing Mashu from Nero's clutches. Calling on Unlimited Blade Works to match Nero's homefield advantage. The great Kaiju battle along the Palatine Hill. There just weren't many good memories from that singularity.

'Of course, how many good memories are there from any singularity,' he growled to himself, before thinking about it for a moment, 'Other than nineties Fuyuki,' and for a second, he felt a soft hand and saw red eyes surrounding by a long flowing mane of snow white hair.

"So," Cu said, waltzing up next to Emiya, leaving Xuanzang and Colan right behind him. Emiya blinked as Cu leaned in conspiratorially, and then smiled at him with one of his most wolfish grins, "When this all goes to shit, want to restart our count, or go from where we left off."

"...," Emiya looked over at Cu for a second, and the immediate desire to roll his eyes died with his own smirk, "Well, do you really want to start from behind aga-"

"I wo-"

"I killed the empe-"

"Boudic-"

"My spears."

"Bullshit."

The conversation went like that for the next ten minutes, and Emiya was honestly glad for it. As the conversation went on, it was almost like it was a year earlier. Ritsuka would be leading the way with his party of servants. Mashu would be right behind him, her shield at her side, ready to take any hit that might come for the party. The party would always be on the lookout, but there would be banter, there would be laughs.

'It's just isn't the same.'

Nothing likely ever would be the same. Not after Goetia. Not after the return of Solomon. Certainly not after the shutting down of Chaldea's servant system.

Not after being summoned back and seeing Kotomine Kirei's black key sticking out of Ritsuka Fujimaru's chest.

'We've got to get a move on,' Emiya thought, looking closely, and staring up as the massive pit location came into view. It was probably just as large as the Colosseum of Rome itself, perhaps a bit larger, but it was a massive building compared to everything immediately surrounding it. However, Emiya noticed that the compass wasn't directly pointing at the stadium itself, and was actually pointing towards the side. He waved with his hands, and the rest of his party followed quickly behind him, doing their best to keep up with his pace as they made their way up along the Greatpit. Finally, they arrived at what looked like a massive corridor that connected into the amphitheater, and then, Emiya felt the compass begin to jiggle. The compass was moving back and forth quickly in two directions, one up the hill towards the giant pyramid, and the other back into the Greatpit. It took only a moment for Emiya to realize what that meant, as he remembered the compass acting the same way when they were in Qarth. He turned around, and couldn't contain a genuine smile on his face.

"There are two servants here," he said, and both his fellow servants jumped. They looked down at the compass, staring at it as it jittered back and forth in the two directions, "This is how the compass reacted when you two," he pointed at Xuanzang and Cu, "were about equal distance from me. So right now, the two servants we are looking for are also about equal distance from us."

"And since we can guess one of them is back in the pit," Cu pointed behind himself, into the darkness of the pit, "Then the other one should be…," he looked up, and stared at the giant pyramid, "In there," his face fell, "Shit."

"I'm guessing that means something bad?"

"That pyramid is the palace of the Tyrant of New Ghis," he whistled, "Means that either our second servant is a slave of the most powerful man in this place," he cringed, "Or a highly connected member of the slavers."

"...Well, neither of those seem like a particularly good possibility," Emiya sighed, before gritting his teeth, "And I don't want to hear any complaint about that servant possibly being a slave owner. They were shoved into their roles just as much as you were. Once we break them out, they will still be our comrade."

Cu glared at Emiya before spitting out a "Fine."

"Anyway," Emiya looked up at the pyramid, "I think our best option would be to head up there first," when he caught a confused look from the other three, he groaned, "It's just the best possible option we have. If we go in and break out what is likely a well known gladiator from that pit, the chances of us getting in the pyramid, and meeting our other comrade are much lower," he then added, "Also, if we can get the Servant in the Pyramid to join us, and they are a slaver, they might have the status or funds to get the pit fighter out without any kind of confrontation."

"That does seem like a prudent path," Xuanzang nodded. Colan, just following along the conversation as best he could, nodded as well. While he also seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of befriending a slave owner, he was also not particularly hostile about it. He had been raised all around cultures with slavery, and without Cu's experience in the Western lands that hated slavery, he probably didn't consider it to be such an alien practice.

"Alright then," Emiya sighed, turning back up towards the hill the palace sat atop, "let's head up there, and see if we can't find a way to get inside that pyramid."

It would only be a ten minute climb up the hill as they made their way along the corridor that connected the Greatpit to the Pyramid itself. Emiya had initially been shocked at the lack of pyramids in comparison to Astapor, but he supposed only having one just made this one more important beyond being so large and connected. As his team made their way up, they could notice crowds of high ranking Slavers wandering about the outside of the pyramid, with many held up in a small crowd outside the pyramid itself. Emiya did his best, and looked over the gathering, and saw a pair of massive doors that were slightly open, with around ten or so guards standing between the crowd and the entrance. Every few seconds, the masters were sent to the side, denied entry. They would complain loudly, but they would skulk away quickly.

The process was moving so fast, that soon, Emiya found himself at the front of the line, Cu, Colan and Xuanzang right behind him. The three were pulled in front of another bureaucrat, though this one had a far fancier robe than the customs agent, with linings of purple around the edges and the symbol of a harpy on his chest.

"State your business," he said, not looking up from his own paper.

"I wou-"

"Yes, yes, you wish to see Grazdan the Great," the thing reed of a man said quickly, still not looking up, "We understand your desire to meet with his worshipfulness, but please understand that preparations for the Great Games are underway. He cannot be distracted by your desires. You will have to come back tomorrow."

"Sir," Emiya said, trying to be as polite as possible. The boy had been capable of showing the traditional Japanese manners when he needed to, so at least Emiya had those to call on, "We have urgent business within-"

"Everyone has urgent business," the tiny man's face finally came up from behind the paper he was observing, "So unle…," and his eyes widened. He then looked down, and back up. It took Emiya a second to realize he wasn't looking at him, but rather behind him. He looked back, and saw Xuanzang and Cu blinking in confusion, "Oh, I see, your party does have urgent business inside the pyramid today," he then showed the paper he had been reading to one of the guards next to him, who nodded. The guard raised his hand, and suddenly, the spears blocking the entrance were pulled up, and the gate to inside the pyramid was open, "Please make your way to the Main Hall. It's along the main corridor inside, you can't miss it."

"...," Emiya couldn't help but feel a chill run up the back of his spine, but considering everything else they had been dealing with, he sighed, and offered a, "Thank you," and waved to his compatriots. The other three nodded, though he could tell there was apprehension in all of them. They quickly made their way inside, ignoring the shouts and complaints from the Masters around them.

Once they were inside, Cu walked up next to Emiya, and said something from one of Chaldea's movie nights that Ritsuka had insisted on as a bonding exercise.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," Emiya nodded, as they moved throughout the dark corridors.

Each pathway had a high vaulted ceiling, at least ten five meters high, and were only wide enough for three people to pass, less where there were small pieces of the sides of the walls were large mosaics showing different aspects of the history of both New Ghis since the founding and the Old Ghis empire. From the founding of Old Ghis, to that city's fall, to the refugees arriving from the ruined empire. The last one was one showing a great metal harpy rising from New Ghis over the water, a phoenix reborn. Emiya could see that from the beats of that creature's mighty wings, different creatures were being blown aside, with everything from horses and sheep to mighty dragons being blown away by the gales of the Harpy.

"Not ones for modesty, huh?" he shook his head, as they entered the largest room they had seen so far. And the most opulent, with massive rugs in the middle and the sides of the room, massive statues of harpies where torches were held out in their claws. There were Mosaics of massive sea battles on all four walls of the room, and the were lit up to show the horrific and gory details. It probably wasn't at the center of the pyramid itself, but it was likely pretty close, and it had the highest ceiling of them all. There were entrances on all four sides, though three sides had one entrance each, while the side opposite them had two separated by a great chair. The chair was up against the wall, made of marble, with a massive Harpy on top of it, looking down directly at the man who was sitting in it. Yet it wasn't the man who caught Emiya's eye. Nor, as he would guess, the eyes of his companions.

He didn't need to be feeling the incredible pull of the compass to see a pretty woman with long purple hair, red markings on her face, and dark pretty skin. She had the same nervous complexion she usually did, though he guessed it was even more pronounced than usual. He did his best to remain calm, as he looked over at Nitocris, before turning his attention back to the man in the throne sitting next to where Nitocris was standing. And yet, he could feel tension as the man was speaking to his other side, and a man who was covered in a long brown cloak. Suddenly, the man in the cloak pointed in their direction, and the man in the throne looked over.

"Ah," the Tyrant of New Ghis declared, smiling from his throne, "I suppose the guests my friend told me about have arrived," Emiya could feel his eyes gaze over them, and then fixed right behind his right shoulder. From the leer that the tyrant had, it didn't take much of a guess for Emiya to deduce it was Xuanzang who was standing behind that shoulder. He pushed whatever disdainful thoughts he had for the behavior out of his mind, and stepped forward, and was about to speak, when the Tyrant stopped, "Ah, stop," Emiya stepped back, and looked around at the two dozen or so guards that were along the walls or simply standing to the sides. Yet they weren't moving to confront him, and they seemed to lazily have their weapons at their sides, "I insist that we provide you with gifts first."

He raised his hand, and snapped his fingers.

BRRRRZZZZRRRRRTTTTT

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Both Xuanzang and Cu let out horrifically pained screams, and it was only after a second that Emiya recognized that arches of lighting had passed through the floor, and sent shocks into the both of them. He nearly jumped away, staring at them as the lighting seeped through their limbs, and then suddenly seemed to drag them to the floor on their knees. Emiya looked at the lighting from the floor, and then followed it, and saw that the lighting was originating from the cloaked figure.

'A Magus,' Emiya gritted his teeth, and projected Bakuya and sent it flying over towards the Magus. It was too fast for the Magus himself to dodge, and nearly slammed into the cloaked figure's middle, but it was deflected in a second, sending it careening backward onto the floor. Emiya called it back quickly, as he saw the Tyrant stand up, wings made up of metal feathers beginning to grow on his back.

"I thought your spell was supposed to capture these…servants," the winged man said, looking back at the Magus, who seemed to have been stunned with how close he had come to death, "This one is using spells and has incredible reflexes too."

"I was only able to calibrate the spell so it would incapacitate the specific servants we had on the list," the magus said breathlessly, and Emiya could tell it was a male voice declaring that. He took a second, and saw Nitocris leaning as far away from them as possible, a natural fear over her face, "This servant isn't one of them, so he's still able to fight Ruler."

"Ruler huh," Emiya said aloud, holding Bakuya in place and calling Kanshou into his other hand. His eyes drifted back to Colan, who was standing dumbfounded at the sight of his father and "Lady Xuan" kneeling down and screaming in pain, "Should have known this was getting too easy."

"Yes, Ruler," the Tyrant laughed, smiling as he began to float into the air, the wings on his back gently flapping, "It is a fine title for Grazdan the Great," Emiya recognized that must be this servant's name, "A title for the man who will conquer the world."

'Wait what,' Emiya felt his eyes widen, looking more closely at the harpy man standing opposite him, 'Aren't rulers supposed to not have any ambi-'

"Guards," Grazdan pointed at Emiya, "Restrain this other servant, we will be needing him," he then looked over at Colan, who was trying to shake his father from his electric chains, "Kill the boy though, we have no use for him."

"Shit," Emiya could tell the guards were approaching them. He looked over at Colan, still desperately trying to free the two other servants, despite the shocks that he was likely experiencing. Two guards, ones he hadn't seen but had been standing behind the party, guarding the corridor they had come in from. He looked at the Magus, who was being protected by Grazdan, and then at Colan, and then at the guards. He sighed, and then jumped backward.

"Take this!" he shouted, sending both Kanshou and Bakuya out in quickly, and he could hear squelching as the tore into the two guards that were closest to Colan. They were both sent backward, blood pouring from the almost certainly fatal wounds. Emiya then used his momentum to grab Colan in his right arm, and called back Kanshou into his left. He then bolted towards the corridor, and shot down the pathway.

"Emiya!" he heard Colan shout at him.

"We have to get out of here!" Emiya screamed back as he carried the boy beneath his arm. The nearly bounced off the first turn, but Emiya stuck out his leg, caught the momentum, and bounced forward down the hallway.

"But Da-Lady-"

"There's nothing we can do right now," Emiya continued, "That man with the wings is one of us, and this is his home turf," he stopped when he saw shadows of what looked like a major group of individuals with weapons from one of the turns, looked around, and dove down another pathway, "With a full army in here, we have to get away and regroup."

"But what if he kills them?" Colan asked, and Emiya could almost hear the tears in his voice. Emiya wasn't sure about this, but he could at least try an explanation.

"They had a spell that specifically targeted your father and Xuanzang," he said aloud, noticing sounds from another pathway, and then charing up a thin flight of stairs to try and get some distance, "If they wanted to kill them, they could have already done so. They wanted them as prisoners, and me as well, since I'm also a servant," he then stopped, "That's why they only wanted to kill you."

Colan stopped complaining, and then wrapped his hands around Emiya to try and help maintain Emiya's balance. Emiya appreciated the gesture, though it was unnecessary. They finished the flight of stairs, and then Emiya looked around, and turned left, trying to maintain distance. After another five minutes of running, they came to another room, this one with a massive window. On the other hand, the room only had one entrance, and Emiya cursed when he saw that he had run into a dead end.

"Shit," he then stopped, and ran towards the window. He looked out, and saw they were about a third of the way up the pyramid, about twenty five meters high. He looked down, and saw that there were no guards outside any more, and that the doors to the outside were completely closed, "Must have called everyone inside and put the whole place on lockdown," Emiya looked over the street, and suddenly saw a cart full of carpets laying unattended, with two donkeys attached to it, but no driver or merchant. He felt himself smile, as a crazy plan began to form.

"What are we going to do?" Emiya looked down at Colan, and suddenly something popped into his head. He pulled off his red cloak, and began to trace its outer appearance and structure. In less than a moment, the red cloak was a much smaller brown cloth, though it was also far softer, almost bouncy. After thanking Ciel Senpai once again for her gift, he handed it to Colan, who stared at the now strange fabric.

"I'm going to toss you out here," Emiya pointed out the window, and into a wagon filled with large fabrics on the other side of the pyramid, "And into that cart," Colan stared at Emiya like he had a second head, "Cover yourself with that fabric, I changed it to serve as a protection for the impact."

Colan gulped, but nodded, and twisted the fabric around his body. Emiya smiled, and was thankful that the boy was more understanding of his plans than his father had been. Once the boy was wrapped up, Emiya picked up the boy, and began to aim him towards the cart.

"What about you?" Colan said from the muffle.

"I'll stay here and hold them off," he smiled, "Remember, they want to catch me. I'll probably be able to do more damage on the inside than the outside."

"What should I do then?"

"Hide for as long as you can," Emiya said, giving one final aim, before stopping, and pulling out the small bag of Chaldean devices and handing it up to Colan, "Make sure to keep a hold of those, they are very important," Emiya couldn't risk that Magus getting his hands on any of the Chaldean technology and using it to further empower himself, "Try and find a way from the outside to help, knowing guys like that Ruler, he's going to leave an opening to exploit."

"How will I know what to do?"

"Kid," Emiya sighed one last time, "Knowing your father and I's luck, it's going to be so blindingly obvious that a much dumber boy than you would be able to see when to come and help us," he then reared back, and heaved Colan in a mighty toss, "Now get to safety!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Colan shouted, as he flew over into the cart. The boy landed directly on the pile of carpets, and the sudden movement caused the cart to jump. The animals on the front of the cart suddenly reared up, and began to run, taking the cart with them, with Colan, still moving, on it. After only a moment, the cart was well out of sight of the pyramid, and Emiya let himself smirk.

"Halt!" He heard behind him, and he turned to see over a dozen guards in purple armor, with large purple shields and short gladius-like blades in their hands. The man in charge was pointing directly at Emiya, steel in both his eyes and his voice, "You are under arrest by Emperor Grazdan the Great."
"Yeah," Emiya reconjured Bakuya to join Kanshou, "I don't particularly care," and then both were hurtling towards the officer that had pointed at Emiya. The man didn't have time to recognize what was going on, as they sliced into his torso. His eyes went blank, before looking down in horror. The men behind him were shocked as their commander fell to his knees, blood beginning to pour out from the wounds.

Emiya, seizing the opportunity, charged forward, calling his favorite noble phantasms to his hands from the corpse and getting right in front of another one of the men. He twisted his body, and decapitated this second man with Bakuya, before letting Kanshou go in the spin, so that the second blade flew into the skull of the man right behind the soldier who had just lost his head. As these two new bodies began to fall, Emiya kicked the shield of the now headless man up, causing it to flip, into the air, before kicking it once more, so the massive wooden thing shot forward crashing into another soldier so fast that it exploded into a spray of splinters. The splinters immediately killed the first one, but also shotgunned into the two men behind him, causing them to burst into screams as they suddenly found their eyes and bodies impaled with dozens of small pieces of wood.

Emiya, seeing the utter confusion coming over this group, turned on his heel, and brough Bakuya down, cutting vertically down the middle of the man right behind him, who still was in such shock he hadn't brought his own shield up. While he wasn't able to cut the man in half, he did cut deep enough to be sure that the man was dead. Using the last of his momentum, he reached out with his free hand, Kanshout from the skull of the falling corpse he had left it in a half second earlier, pulled it out, and then dived over the head of the man he had almost bisected vertically.

He was soon directly over the next soldier, and shot his blades forward, cutting deeply into the shoulders of that man, so deeply he likely cut open the man's lungs. He then land on his feet, and cut with the blades horizontally. The explosion of blood from the man he just cut was only confirmed to be devastating when the torso became detached at the waste, and some guts hung out as he fell to the ground. Emiya stood up, turned around, and looked at his handy work.

Only four men were alive, though one of them was dying from the splinters that were stuck in his face, screaming his soul away as he tried to pull them out of his eyes. The other three were staring dumbly at the corpses of their comrades covering the small room. As if on reflex, the remaining men formed up, and got behind their shields. Their blades were sticking out, and they then pushed together as a wall of wood and steel. Emiya couldn't help but sigh.

"Really, and I thought mooks in this world had better survival instincts," he then tossed Kanshou into the air, letting it hang there for a moment, before charging forward. Right as the blade was directly overhead of the three soldiers, he slide on his side beneath the shield of the man in the middle, making sure to shoot Bakuya up and slice into the man's groin. Then, as the blade came down, the middle man began to fall. Emiya hopped up, grabbed the falling blade, and brought the swords down along the spines of the two surviving soldiers, causing them to both crumple quickly from the strikes.

Emiya soon forced himself up to his feet, and looked over his handy work. But before he could even congratulate himself, he heard more footsteps from the corridor. He looked over, and saw the red haired, armored man, with a cloud of feathers behind him. The Tyrant Grazdan looked over Emiya's slaughter, and then gave a polite clap, before walking over towards the last surviving guard, the one with splinters poking out of his face.

"I must say, I am truly impressed," Grazdan said, walking behind the blind dying man, before swiping his hand through the man's skull to kill him, "I knew you were a being as close to me as possible, but I really did need to be able to see your handy work."

"Let's just say I've had practice," Emiya growled, resuming his defensive stance, "Now how ab-"

Emiya felt himself slam into the wall behind him. Grazdan's hand was around his throat, and was in the process of choking the life out of him. He could feel the blood from the man whose skull the tyrant had just popped ooze onto him.

"You should be thankful I might have some use for you," Grazdan began to squeeze harder, "I could kill you right now, but I think you and your friends might be amusing."

Emiya knew he was in trouble, but also knew that Grazdan probably did value him enough to not kill him for what he was about to say next.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'm up for that kind of relationshi-GAAAH!" Grazdan squeezed Emiya's neck harder. Slowly, Emiya could feel darkness overtaking his vision, and his eyes barely maintain their focus on Grazdan, who was still smiling at him.

"Ah, don't worry, you and your blue haired friend won't be those sorts of pleasures," as Emiya began to drift into unconsciousness, he heard a final few words from Grazdan, "I have a very different set of roles for you two."