Mild warning for a sort of surgery/autopsy scene in this - that stuff always makes me wig out, but its mild as hell, and this also 50% a God of War story where Kratos much worse things in combat.

Anywho, I'm squeamish as hell about surgery scenes, so it probably shouldn't bother anyone, but putting the warning up just in case.

A GHOST IN A STRANGE LAND

CHAPTER 24

Time passed, as it does. In the blink of an eye, two weeks passed.

Not that the days in between were not filled with activity.

"So, you're going to teach me how to dodge by just throwing things at me?"

Fujimaru was dressed in gym shorts and a sports bra, her hair for once tied behind her instead of in its usual side-ponytail. Across the field stood her sensei, Chiron, and a grinning Cu Chulainn.

"It's how I learned to dodge! The old hag would throw things at me all hours of the day, even while I was sleeping. She used to say if I could dodge her Gae Bolgs, I could dodge anything. And if I couldn't, well…" He shrugged. "Best we not dwell on that. But it got results! Not a Servant on the Throne who can tag me with something through Protection from Arrows, at least not at range. You won't find a version of me running around that doesn't have it, unless the Throne grabbed my really young self up, before I went off to Teacher's home."

Chiron was shaking his head, though he too was smiling. "Though we will not be using methods as, ahem, extreme as the Queen of the Land of Shadows used. Cu Chulainn will be firing magical bubbles at you. They should not hurt…" Cu gave him a look, and he coughed. "They will STING a bit when they hit you, and will pop with a rather loud noise. Nothing crippling, or debilitating."

He leaned down and picked up a bucket filled with yellow balls. "In addition, I will be circling the area, and will occasionally throw one or more of these balls at you - do not worry, I will moderate my strength. The bruises will heal before you know it. You graduate to the next level of training when you manage to last until I exhaust the balls within this container."

Cu's grin was like a razor that had just been honed. Sharp, and gleaming. "Think fast, girlie!"

"Mash? A question."

Mash, hands on her knees as she gasped breath into her lungs, looked up at Kratos.

He stared down at her. "Your sword. It remains by your side, but you do not draw it when we train. Why?"

He held up a hand as she began to stammer something. "I do not seek to scold you, merely to understand. Your desires, or expectations of that weapon, and what I can do to help you with it." He crossed his arms across his massive chest. "Take your time, and answer only when you are certain of your words."

So she thought, as she got her breathing under control, and thought some more as she drained a bottle of water, her Senpai's yelps from across the field the background noise as she considered.

"I've tried to draw it a few times since, since France." Always in the quiet of her room, alone, without even Fou around. "And it's never felt…right to do so. I think…" Her mouth made a thin line. "I think I, or maybe the Servant I'm bonded with, is waiting for something."

[The Sword of The Strange Hangings is not to be unsheathed lightly, girl. But if you really want a proper look at the blade, I can restrain most of its power so it won't harm anything, if you take it out just to peer at it. I suppose I can do that much, while I'm still dragging my feet like this. And it might well scramble that annoying Avenger's tiny little mind, should she lay eyes upon it. That almost might be worth the hassle.]

"Then, when the time is right, we shall speak of this further."

Mash was coughing, as smoke and grit clouded her lungs. Da Vinci was digging herself out from under a pile of rubble. And Chiron was shaking his hair out like, well, a horse trying to dislodge something by shaking it free of its mane.

The area around Mash was a crater - a deep trench, with only a small area of grass still intact, centered around Mash - more correctly, her shield.

Across the field, Kratos had detached his shield from his arm and tossed it to the ground, where it lay, the metal glowing white-hot, the grass in flames where it had touched down.

Cu Chulainn was laughing uproariously.

Da Vinci spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Ok, just MAYBE I might have overtuned the reflect functionality just a tad."

Fire alarms began going off, and Cu crumbled to the ground, rolling around as he laughed.

"Why the reverse-grip?" asked Fujimaru. "I kind of feel like you're handing me a pistol and telling me to shoot 'gangsta style'." Her voice twisted into a kind of accent as she said the last.

"While I am not familiar with the terms you are using, Master, it largely is due to the sheath Lady Da Vinci has crafted for you." Chiron reached out and rolled up her sleeve, then placed the wooden practice knife against her arm, handle resting just above her wrist, the blade pointed at her elbow.

"For the interests of drawing it more quickly, it is best the handle be closer. And she is including a trigger to where you will be able to cause the knife to fall into your hands with a small bit of magic - in that case, you certainly would not want it reversed."

He trailed the knife down her arm, until it rested in her palm. "While you certainly could try to catch it by the handle if it was reversed, that is a bit too advanced for you at this stage of your training. This way, you can cause it to fall into your hands with but a thought, and quickly strike."

He met her eyes. "Because this is a weapon of last resort, my Master. Your Gandr should suffice to keep an enemy at bay long enough for a Servant, or Kratos, to intervene on your behalf. But in the event that such is not the case, a quick, precise strike may be the only thing that stands between you and death - or captivity, which may possibly be worse, as you hold Command Seals over myself and Mash that could cause great damage in the wrong hands."

"And, you don't really have the muscles to punch through armor, even with the best possible knife Da Vinci could make you," said Cu, with a shrug. "You're not looking to do a killing blow, a stab from a twiggy thing like you isn't going to be much more than a pinprick to a Servant. No, you're looking to get someone to flinch long enough for you to get some space so one of us can get between you and whatever ugly sort has you in their clutches. And for that…" Cu bared his teeth. "Nothing in the world is better than a quick slash at the eyes. I don't care WHO you are, as long as you've got a working pair, nothing unsettles someone like something sharp coming at your peepers."

Fujimaru gave him a cheeky little grin. "And here I thought you'd be telling me to go after a DIFFERENT pair, Caster."

Cu laughed. "It's not a bad idea." He walked up until he was standing just behind her. "You're a short little lass. Someone grabs you like this…" He slid his arm around her neck, lightly, merely resting it there. "Or twists your arm up, or does something that leaves one of your hands free, that leaves you free to get a knife and just stab backwards and ruin someone's entire day."

"Knives for both arms, then," muttered Kratos. "It will make it harder for you to be disarmed, and will give you the element of surprise."

"Which, as a human surrounded by Servants, may be your only advantage, my Master." Chiron smiled. "At least for now."

Avenger faded into nothingness, for what felt like the hundredth time this night. Only this time, there wasn't the sound of something metal hitting the floor.

Had….had it worked?

Da Vinci's triumphant shout told her that it had. She quickly rematerialized, eyes flying to her left arm.

Which was still attached.

Oh, thank….Him. She wouldn't have to reattach the thing again.

"HA! Take that metaphysics! Da Vinci is once again your Supreme Lord and Master!" The Universal Genius' hands were on her hips, and if Avenger was any judge, she was about to burst out into some prime maniacal laughter. Squeaks and Red were clapping politely.

"So," she began. "If I can finally astralize without leaving my arm behind, is it time to talk about additions? Because I have ideas…"

Da Vinci's answering grin was all she needed to see.

Fujimaru was staring down at the paper in front of her. Her pencil scribbled something, then erased it, scribbled something else, then stopped halfway. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm officially stumped. I don't see a way to get out of this without us losing."

"That is because you are trying to save everyone. Admirable, but, in this case, misguided, my Master." Chiron's smile was fond, if a touch sad. "In the scenario I gave you, you are surrounded, cut off from communications with Chaldea, and limited in your options, with only myself and Mash by your side."

He sighed. "No, the optimal, and probably only route to salvaging something in this case is to sacrifice me. To use me to drive a hole in the forces surrounding you, and then have Mash carry you from the battlefield, while I keep them occupied."

For the first time since meeting him, his Master looked angry, and possibly a bit hurt. "I don't want to do that if I can help it." There was conviction behind those words, conviction that reminded him so much of so, so many of his students.

He knew she was something special, a diamond just waiting to be polished.

"I understand, Master, and, as I said, it is a commendable trait to have. But you must think of the bigger picture." He laid a hand on his chest. "I am not truly alive. That you and Kratos both treat Servants as more than mere tools, or wayward spirits is laudable in many ways. But you and he are Masters - and Masters are a very, very limited quantity in this war."

"Servants can be resummoned if we are slain. A dead Master is dead forever."

She flinched at his words, but when she replied, her conviction had not dimmed in the slightest. "I get that, I really do. I was raised with all the 'a real Mage dances with death and isn't afraid to make sacrifices' bullshit my mother seems to live and breathe. And I get that we're playing for about the highest stakes we can here."

She shrugged. "But I'm not going to stop trying to find a way that all of us can come home at the end of the day. I get that things might not work out like that, and the sacrifice play you're talking about might be our only option. If that's the case, I guess I'll just have to live with it." She huffed out a breath. "Doesn't mean I'll like it, though."

Her eyes met his, firm and unyielding. "But I'm going to exhaust every option I can before it comes to that."

CHALDEA COMMAND ROOM

"So, it was Rome after all."

Romani nodded. "A stroke of luck that you decided to visit me that evening, Medusa. Your comment about Greece had me check there on a whim, and that led us here." He shrugged sheepishly. "Took us longer to track down the exact year than it should have, but that's largely on me. I had us check the fall of Rome, since that time was, well, turbulent doesn't even begin to describe it."

"So, when was it?" asked Avenger.

"About 60 AD. That's about a year after Agrippina's death, so Nero has been ruling uncontested - or at least without his mother's meddling - since." Romani frowned. "One of the more stable periods, at least for internal strife. There was the Roman-Parthian War, and Boudica's uprising, but it was largely stable up until the end of his reign."

Kratos sorted through his lessons of the past two weeks - Da Vinci had been making the Roman Empire a priority once it appeared that that was the location of their next campaign. "He was the mad one?"

"Kratos, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" Da Vinci said this with a grin. "But you're largely correct - History largely describes Nero as a tyrant - selfish, compulsive, corrupt. Though that is a bit disputed - much like how certain Pharaohs of Egypt would be vilified after death, like the one who attempted to push the Kingdoms towards monotheism and had their name wiped from history, there's at least some schools of thought that Nero was subject to this as well."

She shrugged. "Nero WAS largely popular with the common folk, at least, so much so that the eastern provinces of Rome had a legend that Nero was merely in hiding, and would return to save the Empire."

"Either way, this is long before his famous decline, the Great Fire of Rome, and the revolt that forced him to flee and take his own life." Romani pulled up a map onto the screen before him. "And we'll be dropping you right into Rome itself - far away from any of the historical conflicts going on. So your welcome here should be easier than the one you had waiting for you in France, what with the Dead and Wyverns you had to deal with on the first day."

"But all this assumes there's been no massive historical changes, which isn't a bet I'd be willing to take," said Da Vinci. "Which is why I've got a couple of presents before you hop in the Coffins."

"First, Kratos, here's your shield." She handed over the item. "I dialed the reflect back to the original settings, with the generator tweaked so it shouldn't overload except in the most dire of circumstances - I'm talking about you trying to stop a Noble Phantasm circumstances."

Kratos slid the shield onto his arm, one eyebrow quirked up just a touch at the inventor as he recalled the explosion and subsequent fire and alarms of a week past.

"Don't give me that look, mister! I took it back to levels that we had already tested and verified. It should be as safe as it ever was before I got my hands on it. Now, Fujimaru!"

The girl stepped forward. "What do you have for me, Da Vinci?"

"Firstly, your uniform. You didn't even get issued it before everything went bad on the day of your arrival, so here it is." Da Vinci handed over a folded, white uniform. "The standard issue Mystic Code you saw everyone else wearing that horrible day. Armored enough to withstand a reasonable amount of punishment from regular humans and animals, but don't expect it to do much against Demonic Beasts or Phantasmals. And against Servants it's little better than tissue paper."

Fujimaru had taken the uniform by the shoulders and shook it out, and was now holding it up before her. "Hey, some protection's better than nothing. Ask my poor t-shirt how well it did in Fuyuki." She glanced over at Da Vinci. "Does it have any other tricks up its sleeves?"

Da Vinci nodded. "Three spells woven into it, good for one shot each before they'll have to recharge. A brief power surge one, a displacement that should let a Servant dodge an incoming attack, and a first aid spell. THAT one you can use on yourself, or Kratos if need be - or anyone else that might need some patching up. Our Director, and Roman there, were both adamant that any healing spells needed to be usable on everyone, not JUST Servants or Masters."

"Not bad thinking, really," said Cu. "No promise your Masters would be able to summon anyone who could manage the healing for them, either. Two Casters between us here, and neither of us is going to be opening a hospital anytime soon - our resident Archer could honestly run rings around us both in that regard."

Chiron was shaking his head. "It is somewhat surprising your teacher did not attempt to teach you even the basics of healing magics, Caster. A warrior queen like her I would have thought would value such more."

"Oh, she TRIED," said Cu, with a chuckle. "It just never took root in my hard head. No matter how much she tried to beat it in."

"Fascinating," said Chiron, his hand cupping his chin.

"And now that you're covered as well as we can on defense, offense." Da Vinci reached into a case and passed over two sheaths, in which were resting a paired set of knives. "Cu and Chiron and Kratos have given you a grounding in using a knife as something other than an eating utensil, so here's the real deal." Fujimaru slipped one of the knives a few centimeters out of its sheath.

The metal looked odd - as if something else had been worked into it. "Knowing you, I take it these aren't your average knives, Da Vinci?"

"Correct. Since your training was largely around using them for a quick, single strike to get yourself away from trouble, I melded the steel with some conductive spells. When you stab, or slash someone with these babies, they should release a powerful shock into the flesh of whomever, or whatever is on the business end. And they're selective enough that the charge won't flow into the person holding the knife, so they're perfect for escaping a grapple." She waved her finger. "They're like the spells in your uniform, they'll need time to recharge after that - and them being in their sheaths will make that process a lot faster, but you'll still be able to use them as a weapon in the meantime. I just hope you don't have to."

"You and me both, you and me both. If I have to use these things for any sort of extended period of time, it means something's gone horribly wrong." She tucked the sheaths under her arms. "Let me pop over to the head and get changed, and get these things tied around my arms."

"What of the Servants?" asked Kratos, after a moment. "What is our capacity for this Singularity?"

"The Grail you brought back, and two weeks to do repairs have done wonders for our power output, but that comes with the added burden of another Master to send back. People - or gods, in Kratos' case, are much harder to verify the existence of than Servants." Da Vinci began pointing. "Mash is absolutely necessary - her shield is key to establishing contact, to making a connection at a leyline and for any on-site summoning. And as Chiron is Fujimaru's only other Servant, so he's a lock for this one." She looked over Kratos' three Servants. "So that means we've got the capacity for one more - though we should be able to handle an emergency summons of one more from Chaldea at the same time for maybe ten minutes or so."

"Ok, you bitches. Only one way to settle this, then." Avenger held out her metal hand, her flesh hand resting in it, balled into a fist.

Cu stepped up. "Before we begin this thing, let's go over the ground rules. Two smacks, then throw on three. And no trying to read someone's hand and changing your throw on the way down, either."

"Why I ever let the two of you talk me into this…" While it was hidden by her blindfold, the tone of Medusa's voice made it clear she was rolling her eyes.

Fists hit flesh twice, then the three Servants gestured. Avenger stared at her fist like it had betrayed her, while Cu was grinning at his palm.

He turned to face Medusa. "Now, for all the marbles." Again, fists hit flesh twice, and a pair of gestures, and Cu crowed triumphantly.

"Rock beats scissors!" he exclaimed, as his fist tapped Medusa's two-fingered gesture. "And that means I get to be first on the ground for this one!"

Kratos sighed at the spectacle unfolding before him. It was only the fact that none of the Servants present would receive, in theory, any sort of noticeable boost from the location that had convinced him, at length, to allow them to decide amongst themselves who would accompany him.

He had, however, expected it to take the form of something more rational, rather than this…game.

He felt a headache coming on.

Cu was clapping Kratos on the shoulder, as Avenger pouted (there was no other word for it), when Fujimaru rejoined them, now in her uniform.

Cu gave a low whistle. "Not bad, lass, not bad at all."

Avenger raised her fist, which Fujimaru bumped with hers. "He ain't wrong, Red. You look pretty sharp in that."

"How's the fit, Fujimaru?" asked Da Vinci. "And how do the sheaths feel on your arms?"

"Honestly," she said. "It's a little tight - not bad, but just not my style. I prefer looser stuff. But the sheaths feel fine. I even did a practice draw before I came out here, and everything felt fine."

"Show me," said Kratos, Chiron, and Cu, all at once.

Fujimaru stifled a giggle, but straightened up, and a second later, a knife fell into each of her hands, and in a smooth, practiced movement, she raised the weapons into a ready position. "Drawing them from up my sleeve isn't as smooth - I think I just need more practice, really. But you three have drilled me on this one enough that I could probably do it in my sleep."

"You've still got a bit of wasted motion there, Master, but for the time we had, you're more than adequate." Chiron patted her on the head. "Though I will do everything in my power to keep you from having to use that knowledge."

Romani looked over the group. "Are we all ready, then?"

A round of nods, and a grunt, was his answer.

"All right, then. For the official record, your orders are the same as they were for the French Singularity. Find the Holy Grail causing the destabilization in 60 AD Rome, and either retrieve it, or destroy it." His face turned grim. "And, in the event Lev Lainur can be located, his status remains wanted, dead or alive. Alive is preferred, but dead will allow a lot of us to sleep better. Your judgment in the field will trump ours back in the Command Center on this issue."

"Very well," said Kratos.

A few moments later, Kratos was once more lying in the coffin, his weapons lying across his chest. The mechanical voice began its countdown, and he braced himself.

Then, there was the tug at his very being, and the tunnel of blue.

And then he was gone.

HISPANIA, UNITED ROMAN EMPIRE CAPITAL

Lev Lainur looked up from the map spread across the table, as he felt reality shudder. "Finally." He closed his human eyes and concentrated for a moment, then called out to the drone standing guard by his door. "Send an order to the Servant we stationed near the Roman Capital. Tell him it is time to fulfill his duty."

When Kratos came back to himself, it was to a sound that was very, very familiar to him.

Battle.

His axe was in his hand, as he blinked his eyes rapidly, vision returning swiftly. He cast his head about, taking in the details with the practiced eye of a Spartan General.

Two armies, both wearing red and gold (the favored colors of the Roman Empire, his mind supplied, in Da Vinci's voice), with some subtle differences to set them apart. The larger force favored a darker red, akin to that of dried blood, while the smaller force seemed closer to the colors in the images Da Vinci had shown him during their lessons. Armaments were largely identical, the large shields and either the short swords (gladii, said his mind) and spears (hasta for the thrusting spears, pilum for those that are meant to be thrown), with the only real difference being the design of the eagle on their shields.

His companions were rapidly coming back to themselves, shaking off the disorientation of the Rayshift, though Fujimaru still looked to be a touch rattled - as it was her first true Rayshift, it was probably to be expected.

They had maybe moments before one, or both of the armies would notice them.

His finger jabbed at the button on the communicator, and Romani's visage popped into being.

"Kratos! You're all verified and looking green, what…"

"Romani!" barked Kratos. "You have dropped us into a battle!"

"What, but that's…" He frantically checked his displays. "There weren't any conflicts this close to the capital during this time period, and you were supposed to be dropped into Rome itself, not the outlying countryside! That's it, no more assumptions about the time period!" He gritted his teeth, and his face took on a serious mien. "What's your situation?"

"Unengaged for the moment," said Chiron, helping Fujimaru to her feet, her legs still having trouble sustaining her weight. "But that is unlikely to…"

"They appeared from nowhere! Sorcery! Foul sorcery!"

"Aaaaaand there it is," drawled Cu, his staff already in his hands. "Kratos, orders?"

"Defense only," Kratos stood up to his full height, hoping his size and bulk would gain them a few moments more to gather themselves - as Atreus was fond of saying, his father was 'scary-looking' at even the best of times ('tall as a tree', though he lacked the talking head on his belt at immediate). "One of these armies is the distortion we are here to solve, but we lack information. We do not wish to fight two forces at once."

Neither of the forces had, as of yet, made an overt move towards them, as they were far too occupied with one another. The majority of the cries relating to them were coming from the smaller force - a ripple of unease had passed through the army when the small band from Chaldea had been spotted. The larger force was quiet - eerily so, though Kratos could hear orders being barked by the officers, farther in the back, their words indistinct over the din of the battle.

"HOLD TO YOUR ORDERS!" The voice was loud - almost impossibly so. "These strange visitors may be emissaries of the gods, here to see our glorious victory! Take NO action against them unless they strike first! Your Emperor commands it!" It was coming from the smaller force - someone in the front ranks, though Kratos could not see precisely who through the press of armored bodies. "Should they prove hostile, I will deal with them!"

No sooner had the 'Emperor's' words ceased echoing about the battlefield, then a large detachment of soldiers separated from the larger force and began slowly making their way towards the Chadleans.

"Well, that's that," said Cu, drawing up beside Kratos. "Doesn't necessarily mean they're the baddies here, but it does seem to lean that way." He flicked his eyes across the ranks of men approaching them. "Want me, or Archer to fire off a warning shot?"

He considered. There was still far too much they did not know, and a warning shot could be taken as a sign of aggression - not that detaching what appeared to be a hundred soldiers and advancing upon them did not scream of aggression, but it could be merely to screen them from the greater battle, and ensure they did not interfere.

Yes. 'When redcaps stopped dying their hats in blood', as Mimir would say.

He raised his axe, pointing with it "A curtain of flame, two lengths of a man from us."

"Got it!" Cu slammed his staff into the ground, runes flaring into being around him. A second later, a wall of flame roared into existence. "Now, let's see how you react to that…"

"Fujimaru!" barked Kratos. "Your status!"

"I've got my legs back - the Rayshift knocked me for a loop, but I'm over it." The girl's voice still sounded a bit thready, but she was no longer relying on Chiron to stand. "You think that fire's going to keep them back?"

Kratos had opened his mouth to reply, when the first ranks of soldiers reached the crackling flames.

And strode right through them.

Their capes, leggings, and sleeves caught fire, their armor blackened, but they walked through the blaze without even a shout of pain.

"Ok, that's NOT right!" shouted Cu. "I didn't turn the heat all the way up, but they tanked that without even blinking! What kind of fanatics are these guys?"

They had but moments before they would reach them. "Archer! Keep Fujimaru safe! Mash!"

"Coming!" Mash darted up to stand at Kratos' left, with Cu flanking his right.

"Man, look at all of 'em," muttered the Caster, shaking his head. "Probably going to have to drop the wall, best I use all my focus on cracking some skulls." The pillars of flame winked out, and Cu settled into a stance, bouncing on the balls of his feet, eagerness seeping from his every pore.

Chiron settled himself in front of Fujimaru. "Take what shots you can, my Master - but be mindful of our allies. And take care not to exhaust yourself, either."

"I'll worry about keeping them off you, if any of them make it past our front line," muttered Fujimaru. Mash was a stone wall, and Kratos and Cu together would be a pair of buzzsaws, but there were a lot of soldiers to account for.

The first soldier reached them, and without even a second of consideration, gripped his spear and thrust it at Kratos' eye.

It was a good thrust - the man was obviously skilled, and it was made with a minimum of effort, and good speed.

To Kratos, it was as if he was moving in slow motion - akin to the times his enemies had been trapped in a Realm Shift.

Kratos sidestepped the spear and the Leviathan Axe sliced through the air - and through the man, bisecting him.

For a second, Kratos was frozen. That had been too easy - easier than even felling the rotten Dead that had greeted them in France.

His skin…..felt strange. Not the raised flesh that accompanied cold, or unease, but something seemed to thrum beneath the surface.

And then the dam burst, and the soldiers descended upon them.

Three spears screamed at Kratos, all aimed at different parts of his body, but he lowered his arm, his shield snapping into place, and caught the tips of all three spears, one after the other, and forced them up. He stepped forward and blasted a kick into the chest of the nearest soldier, who was sent rocketing back into his fellow soldiers, with the dual sounds of snapping bones and a shattered breastplate. A soldier stepped into the gap and slashed at Kratos with one of those short swords, but missed, as Kratos stepped back, then removed the soldier's head with a quick chop from his axe.

But more advanced.

Cu slammed his staff in the skull of a soldier, grimacing at the man's knees buckled, but he continued to advance. "Sturdy bastards, aren't you?" He lazily slid out of the way of a hurled javelin, almost casually reaching up to snatch it from the air and fling it back from whence it came. A gurgling sound told him he'd hit true - like he would ever MISS with a spear - and a soldier fell with a spear through his throat.

The soldier before him swung again, almost heedless of his crumpled helmet, and Cu struck again, this time flaring a rune as he connected with the man's body. Fire erupted into being, and this time, the man fell, his head consumed in flames.

And yet, he never once cried out.

A pair of arrows flew over his head, landing amongst the back ranks of the soldiers, dropping two men who were raising pilums in anticipation of launching them.

Spears and swords scraped against Mash's shield, to no avail, as she shoved the wielders back, her shield sweeping forward and cleared the space before her. She pivoted and charged, shield leading, crashing through a small group that had been attempting to edge around her and rush Chiron and Fujimaru. She stomped down as she overran their fallen bodies, her heavy boots shattering legs and arms - but avoiding killing blows.

Wyverns, the undead, even Servants - she had made her peace with having to kill them, but other humans…some part of her still quailed a bit at ending the life of another human being. So she sought to be merciful.

It would cost her.

Heedless of their broken limbs, the fallen soldiers seized Mash's legs with grips of iron, and she stumbled and fell.

Hands pawed at her armor, weakly attempting to tear at it, or simply to strike with enough force to harm - or to distract her from the other hands attempting to seize her arms and throat.

They were too close. Too many bodies, too many hands. She felt panic welling up.

[Mercy is a beautiful thing when you can afford it, girl, but now is NOT the time! Get yourself up or they'll tear you apart! And keep your head, remember what that Spartan taught you about panic.]

It was like a chill ran down her spine, and Mash forced herself to focus.

She dismissed her shield - it would be of little help in her current situation, and swung a fist into the face of a soldier attempting to get his hands around her neck. In her rising fear, she held none of her strength back, and the man's head snapped back, broken teeth flying from his mouth. He made a choked noise and fell to the ground, limp. She tore her arm from the grasp of another soldier, and hammered at the hands holding onto her legs. Stubbornly, despite fingers that were clearly bent the wrong direction, they held on.

A shadow loomed over her - a soldier with a raised sword.

"GANDR!"

A red bolt of magic screamed across the distance and slammed into the soldier's chest, who froze for a moment, then spasmed and fell. A clutch of arrows rained from the sky, burying themselves in the heads of the soldiers trying to pin her down. Gritting her teeth, she shook loose of their now limp hands and sprang to her feet.

'Mash, are you hurt?' Fujimaru's worried voice sounded in Mash's mind.

'I'm fine, no real damage!' Her shield reformed in her hand, and she took stock of the battlefield. In the few moments she had been down, a mass of soldiers had merely stepped around her, and were advancing upon Chiron and her Master. And they had abandoned the methodical approach that had been the hallmark of this army so far, and were charging - likely aware that Chiron would tear through them if given the time.

And another group was already surrounding her, preventing her from going to their aid.

"Apologies, Master, but they seem to be unwilling to allow me to pick them apart at a distance." Chiron said this casually, as if he was discussing the weather, and not the 15 (Twang - 14) soldiers running hell bent for leather at them. "Best you stand back and allow me to handle this." (Twang 13 still advancing).

"All yours, Sensei," she said, backpedaling quickly. Chiron loosed one more shot that was fouled as a soldier launched a pilum at the same moment, and it managed to deflect the arrow JUST enough to cause it to miss. And then they were too close for arrows.

Chiron dismissed his bow and cracked his knuckles. "Come then. Time for a lesson - a final one for you."

His legs tensed, and in an instant, he was in the middle of them.

He slid low, and his leg scythed through the air, chopping the nearby soldier's legs out from underneath them. Still spinning, he slammed an elbow into the body of a soldier that had yet to fall, and sent him rocketing off into the distance. He stepped forward and snapped a kick through the air, his heel shattering the pelvis of one prone soldier. His toe hooked under the groaning man's body, and flipped him forward, knocking two men to the ground with his hurled body.

Chiron laughed. "Come now. Did you think because I wielded a bow I would be helpless at close range? My knowledge is much more vast than that."

He waded in, fists flying, bodies then flying in their wake.

Fujimaru felt her mouth drop open. She'd seen some fairly skilled martial artists in her time (her school had been renowned for both its judo and karate clubs) - Chiron lacked their grace, but made up for it in sheer force and, well, brutality, really. There was nothing pretty in his movements, this was the style of someone looking to put someone else down hard and fast. When his fists hit, the sound of the impact echoed across the battlefield. And he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

She was enthralled enough by the sight before her that she almost missed the creak of metal and leather.

She ducked, falling to the ground, and the sword that would have sliced through her neck passed over her head, a narrow miss. Automatically, her hand formed the pistol shape, and she felt her Magical Circuits fire up.

She spun and fired. "GANDR!"

Her snap shot took the soldier right in the face - he dropped and probably wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

Shame he had a friend, who had come with from wherever these two had come from - they weren't part of the group Chiron was currently beating into the ground. They must have come from the larger melee.

And he was a BIG friend.

Not enough time to fire off another Gandr. And his legs were a hell of a lot longer than hers, too, so running was out of the question - even if he wasn't pretty much on top of her.

He rammed into her, bearing her to the ground, and she flooded her Circuits with energy, reinforcing her bones from the impact she was about to take, and sending strength into her thin arms. Then her back hit the ground, and the wind was blasted from her lungs as the full weight of the soldier bore down on her.

Thankfully she kept her head up, so it didn't bounce off the ground, or worse, a rock or something and knock her silly. But that was a small comfort when she had a soldier who had at least 100 pounds, and at least a foot of height on top of her.

She thrashed, one arm clinging to the man's wrist with all her might, keeping it away from herself, while the other sought to shove him off of her. He wasn't using his other arm, which was a blessing - she was only just barely holding his one arm back, even with Reinforcement - his leverage and greater bulk and strength was almost too much for her. Snarling gutteraly, he brought a knee up to crash into her side - she winced, but her reinforced bones dulled most of the impact. She'd likely have been nursing broken ribs otherwise. His knee crashed into her again, and she felt her concentration flicker through the pain.

She didn't even think about it, not consciously. Suddenly, her knife was in her left hand, and she was driving it up, into the soldier's chin.

The man shuddered, and went limp. A wash of blood flowed down the knife, to her hand.

She felt the knife pulse in her hand, and a surge of magical energy left it, and then the man's body jerked and spasmed.

Numbly, she pulled the knife from the man's throat (causing another, larger spurt of blood to squirt from the wound), and frantically shoved the man off of her. Shakily, she stood.

She'd just killed someone. And not from orders through a Servant - with her own hands.

She began to think she really hadn't truly understood what Mash had been going through.

'Master, I can appreciate what you are dealing with at this moment, but if you would kindly hit the ground?'

Chiron was using his 'Serious Teacher's Voice', as she had labeled it, and she was lying flat on the ground before she'd even really registered the words he'd spoken to her.

A barrage of arrows sailed over her prone body, all of them making a pincushion of the first soldier, who had somehow made it back to his feet. Chiron was by her side before the man had fully hit the ground.

"Master, are you hurt?" he asked, as he helped her up.

"I…" She bit her lip and forced her spinning mind to grind to a halt. "Bruises at worst, I managed to Reinforce myself before he got his hands on me."

"Very good." He nodded, then frowned at her. "We will be having a discussion on battlefield awareness sometime in the immediate future, my student. Can you continue?"

A lecture, in other words - but one she probably deserved. "I can manage. Go, keep sniping them. I'll pay better attention."

By the look on his face, he didn't quite believe her, but he nodded in the end, and resummoned his bow, and resumed firing.

Cu drew up until his back was almost flush with Kratos', his grin wild and gleeful. It'd been far, FAR too long since he'd had a good fight like this with a battle brother - that whole mess with Baldur had been far too sad to really get much joy out of it (stupid moping freeloader). But this, THIS was what he'd been BORN for!

"They're a LOT better than I'd have expected for grunts." He weaved between two spears and a sword, using his staff to tangle the hafts of the spears, then jerking them up to catch the sword. He vaulted forward, hooking the head of his staff into the crossed spears and using his body's momentum to hurl the two spearmen off into the distance. Almost as an aside, he kicked the swordsman in the head as he landed - who somehow remained on his feet.

"See, that's what I'm talking about. I didn't pull that kick much, and his head's intact, and he still wants a piece." His staff spun in his hands as he darted forward, ramming the sharpened butt right between the man's ribs - the armor barely an afterthought to the strength of a Servant. "Something's not right about these guys."

Kratos had been coming about to the same thought. "They are too quiet." Even monsters incapable of human speech roared and hissed at their prey. And his foes in Midgard had not been shy about crying out during battle - that he could not speak the tongue of the elves, or of the Einherjar had not stopped them. But these men were oddly silent.

Cu tossed the body off his weapon. "Yeah. Don't know if everyone's as quiet as you in a fight where you come from, but in my neck of the woods, the banter was half of the fun!" Runes lit up in the air in front of him, and a rapid shower of fireballs exploded into the closest soldiers. Some were blasted from their feet, but others absorbed the flames, either through their shields, or their armor, and continued advancing.

Cu grimaced. "And they're taking some of my better shots and asking for seconds. Something ain't right."

"Then we will have to do better." Kratos slid his axe back into its harness, and drew the Blades of Chaos. Quickly, he cast his eyes across the battlefield.

Chiron was protecting Fujimaru, who was staying close to his side. Mash was engaged, but did not seem to be in danger of being overwhelmed - but she was also pulling her shots, attempting to incapacitate without killing. Given the issues she was still resolving over her first true kill, Kratos supposed he should have expected that. And, as for the larger battle that they were only a small part of…

The smaller force seemed to be standing fast, despite their numerical disadvantage. Their line seemed to be centered around a figure in red that was defiantly taking on all comers - and winning, though as Kratos watched, they took a slash across the back, and stumbled - but with a wheeling slash, took the man's head in response. Still spinning on one leg, the figure dropped low and swept their sword horizontally, taking out the legs of three men.

The line was holding, but it would hold only as long as that warrior - possibly their general, remained on their feet. And as he watched, a spearman blasted them back with a brutal shield charge. They rolled, and regained their feet, but Kratos could see them wince as they did so.

"Go to Mash," Kratos felt the Blades begin to warm in his hands. "I will deal with these." These being the majority of the soldiers that had been dispatched to deal with the group from Chaldea.

Cu pouted. "Hogging them all for yourself, no fun at ALL! You better give me a good show, then!" Cu swung his staff, shattering the arm of one last soldier, then he blurred and was by Mash's side, kicking a soldier that had been edging around to her back in the ribs.

(LvieRdkaziGielaE;aienz;ieNeaivAelaq;lcdicllpeaE)

Kratos blinked. "Romani? Repeat yourself."

The communicator on his wrist winked with a blue light - Romani's image not appearing. "Kratos? I didn't say anything - we're not about to distract you during combat."

Kratos grunted. An error then, or something he misheard. "Very well."

The soldiers fanned out, surrounding Kratos. Spears leveled, they began to edge closer - wary of him, but committed to their actions.

It would not avail them here.

He raised the Blades of Chaos high, the unearthly metal heating until it was white-hot - then he drove them into the dirt, points-first.

The ground cracked, and fire spewed forth from the fissures, searing through the bodies of the soldiers. Molten earth splattered across their bodies, melting their armor to their flesh. Kratos tore the Blades from the ground and slammed them down again, a fresh wave of fire and death following.

A man gave a cry of pain as he was caught flush by one explosion, and was turned into ash.

Concentrating his power, Kratos raised the Blades one last time and slammed them down, a wave of fire washing forth from the point of impact. The soldiers closest to the Spartan fell, charred black by the fire's caress. Those farther away merely fell to the ground, their legs gone, consumed by the hungry inferno.

The smell of burning flesh surrounded Kratos, and not all of it was that of his foes'. His hands stung - the Blades, as ever, eager to mark him as THEIR property. Ignoring the pain, he slid the Blades back into their sheaths, taking the Leviathan Axe back into hand - somewhat gladly, as the ever-present cool of his wife's axe was a balm to his seared palms.

Laughter ran out across the battlefield. "See, my soldiers! They retreat in the face of our might, and that of these fearsome observers! Rejoice, REJOICE! ROME STANDS, AS IT ALWAYS SHALL!"

A cheer went up from the smaller force - now considerably smaller than it had been when Kratos had first laid eyes upon it. But the loud voice was correct, they had won. The larger force was retreating in good order - the general of the victorious force was having to restrain their men from pursuit. Wisely, in Kratos' estimation, as they were still outnumbered enough that a false retreat and a rally could chew them up piecemeal.

He turned his head to where Mash and Cu stood - the Irish Servant shooting him the raised thumb gesture that meant a favorable situation, or agreement. Chiron was speaking in a low voice to Fujimaru, then patted the girl on the back, and quickly jogged to Kratos' side.

"Our foes have been dealt with, but now that raises the question of what is next," He glanced over to the remaining army on the field. "These seem more matching in expectations of Roman soldiery - but that does not necessarily mean they are our allies."

"If we have chosen poorly, we will know soon," The general in red was in a heated discussion with what appeared to be fellow officers - if their more ornate armor was any indication.

"What do you think?" asked Cu, as he strolled up to stand by Kratos. "We about to fight again?"

"No," said Kratos, as the general stomped their foot, and gestured, head and arm working in concert. The surrounding officers nodded - though some seemed to do so begrudgingly, and they began barking orders. The army began reforming, and it appeared as if an honor guard was assembling. "I do not think so."

"Then we probably should get my Master over here if we're going to be meeting dignitaries," said Chiron. "Let me…"

He trailed off, as he turned his gaze upon said Master. "...what is that girl doing?"

Ritsuka Fujimaru was breathing heavily, trying to keep her breakfast down - for the second time in as many minutes.

She'd killed a man.

And it had been so easy. That was the thing her mind kept focusing on - for all the weight it was given, it hadn't taken much effort to slide her knife into his chin, and then up into…

Ok, NOT thinking about that part anymore, not if she wanted to keep from spilling her guts here in the barely ADs. Think about something else. Not how much of a mess she felt like, not the screams of the wounded she was still hearing, and not how she needed to clean her knife (Chiron had been quite clear about keeping one's weapons clean when he'd started her on weapons training). Something, anything to focus on was what she needed here.

But she couldn't focus, not with the stench of blood surrounding her. She reached a hand up to run it through her tangled hair, stopping only when she saw the red still staining her palms.

She felt her heart accelerate, and sucked in a deep breath of air, regretting it almost immediately as her nostrils were flooded with the scent of blood.

Blood, and…..something else.

Wait.

Wait a pair of minutes.

Only somewhat aware of her actions, she walked over to the man she'd killed, and stared down at him for a second.

Glassy eyes, no movement - chest was still. If he was playing dead, he deserved an award. Swallowing heavily, she knelt down, and forced her hands to be still as she removed his cuirass. Thankfully, she was able to get it off without too much fuss, since it looked like it was designed to be separated into four sections - probably to make it easier to store and transport. The shirt he was wearing underneath was quickly sliced away by her knife, and then his chest was bare to her.

Ok, Fujimaru. You've done this before. It's just another summer in Germany - keep telling yourself that, and you can manage this.

She made her first cut, channeling a simple Reinforcement spell into the knife - no bonesaw needed when you could manage the basics of Reinforcement like most Mages could. In no time at all, she had his ribs out of the way, and was peering at the man's internal organs.

"Master, may I ask what it is you are doing?"

Chiron's voice almost broke her out of her fugue, but she held onto her focus with the skin of her teeth. "Checking something - there's something not right about these soldiers. You felt it too, didn't you?" She continued to stare forward, hoping to spot what she was looking for, but knowing she was going to have to get her hands dirty. "The one you shot, this guy's friend, he took a Gandr right in the face, and didn't stay down. I've got a hunch…" Now she did look up at her Servant. "Trust me?"

Chiron's hand dropped onto her head. "Always, my Master. What is it you're looking for?"

She sighed. "Something I wish wasn't hidden like I think it is." With a shudder, she thrust her hands into the man's chest cavity, and began to root around, searching.

"Remember how I said I I had a good grounding in Homunculi and stuff? Well, Homunculi don't really have blood - I mean, they do, but it's MORE than blood. It's got a few extra things in it by necessity given Homunculi are artificial beings. Perfectly safe to use for transfusions and stuff, but it's like, I dunno, Blood+ or Super Blood or something. Which means…"

She turned the heart over, and there it was - the little nodule she'd been looking for. "...it smells different - it's really subtle, but if you've been around Homunculi long enough, you can tell. And when I brought my hand up to my face, I got a good enough whiff to recognize it, even though the beginnings of the breakdown I was starting to have."

She sat back, and pointed at the little silver nodule, tucked in right behind where the heart would rest, small threads still connecting it to the organ in question.. "That's why these guys were so tough, and so fearless even while you were breaking them in two. They're artificial. And really good work, if I'm any judge."

Chiron looked at her for a long moment, a pleased smile breaking out upon his face. "My Master…you truly are full of surprises."

He helped her to her feet, heedless of the mess still clinging to her hands. "You may wish to clean yourself off. It looks as if we are about to receive a delegation from the force we aided, however inadvertently." He handed her a bottle of water and a cloth from the pouches on his belt. "And later, I would like to hear about where your knowledge on Homunculi came from. I gather it is a bit of a long story."

"Yeah, sure. And you're not wrong, either." A few moments of furious scrubbing and her hands were largely free of crimson, and her knife looked like it was at least enough to go back into the sheath until she had time to give it a proper bit of cleaning.

She jogged across the field, blurting out the answer to the question she could see on the faces watching her as she ran to join them.

"Homunculi! They're homunculi!"

Cu snapped his fingers. "It fits! Explains everything - artificial humans, grown in a vat, or a cauldron if you're being traditional - at least in my neck of the woods," he said, as Kratos' brow began to furrow. "Guess Da Vinci didn't get to those yet. They're not exactly commonplace, but Mages have been growing them since my living days."

"We can go over the particulars later - we are about to have guests." Chiron took his place behind Fujimaru, as the group of Romans drew up to them.

Kratos' first impression of the general who had held the army together was the color red. Her - because it was obviously a woman leading the party that approached them - outfit was a dress, and one that looked completely impractical for the battlefield. Wide, billowing sleeves with trim that almost flowed completely over her hands, shoulders decorated with gold braid, her chest - and therefore her heart, totally exposed. And no armor - save the greaves on her legs - which Kratos had a full view of, as her skirt was completely transparent in the front and the back.

Possibly this was a ceremonial outfit - one she had not expected to fight in this day.

She was also short - bordering on tiny. Even with her heeled greaves, Kratos doubted she would come up to his chest. Which made her choice of weapon, an oddly shaped sword nearly as tall as her, and as red as her outfit, all the more strange. And yet, Kratos had seen her wielding it almost effortlessly - one-handed, at times.

He reached for Cu's thread in his mind. 'She is not a Servant?'

'Nope. She feels completely human to me. I don't feel any Servants in the area other than ours.'

Interesting. More interesting was that her outfit appeared pristine - no rips, tears, or signs of battle. And Kratos knew with certainty he had seen her slashed across the back, and rammed with a shield that had caused her to tumble across the ground. As with the soldiers - now revealed to be Homunculi, something was off with the woman.

Kratos had expected the honor guard to stop a reasonable distance from them, but the woman general walked right up to Kratos, the long tendril of hair that stuck out from her otherwise contained hair bobbing as she moved, and regarded him with a bright smile, and a nod.

"Hail, mighty warriors! Am I correct in thinking you are observers from mighty Olympus, come to watch my victory this day?"

For a second, Kratos saw red. All-consuming, burning red.

When he came back to himself, Cu Chulainn was speaking.

"Nah, we're just travelers. Honestly an accident we landed here like we did - the thing we use to travel isn't always the most accurate."

'Kratos, you back with us? Sorry for answering for you, but I FELT that jolt through our link - if Avenger was here, you might have turned her brains into mush.'

'...my apologies.'

Kratos chided himself - he had been warned by Da Vinci that the gods of Greece were still venerated here, under different names. But hearing Olympus again - in the present tense - it had still been a shock to his system.

'Don't worry about it. I'd probably do the same if I came face to face with my teacher suddenly, or, Morrigan forbid, Medb.'

"Truly?" said the general, her tone disbelieving. "With the great powers I saw you command, I would have thought you were servants of the gods, if not the gods themselves. But no matter!" She swept her hand before her. "You have aided the Roman Empire today, and gained the favor of me, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Venus personified, Emperor of Rome! Rejoice in your fortune!"

Nero. This…..tiny woman was the mad Emperor who ruled in this time.

'I guess after King Arthur, we shouldn't be surprised.' Cu's wry voice sounded in his mind.

"You're Emperor Nero? But, I mean - you're shorter than I am!" Fujimaru flushed as she realized that, yet again, she had said something aloud that she had been thinking.

"Umu! I am she!" If she had taken any offense at the comment about her height, Nero did not show it. "May I have the names of our bold allies?"

(Umu? The word was unfamiliar to him, and even Freya's bracelet did not translate it.)

"This is Kratos," said Chiron, with a nod from Kratos. "Our leader. And this is Ritsuka Fujimaru, my student and our second-in-command. I am Archer."

"Caster," said Cu, with a grin, his eyes walking up and down Nero's form, to her obvious delight.

"Hello," said Mash, with a bow. "I am Mash Kyrielight."

"Kratos, Mash, Ritsuka - and Caster and Archer," Nero pursed her lips. "Titles as names?" she asked.

"Forgive me, Emperor Nero, but in the culture that Caster and myself come from, names have great power, and they are revealed only to those we are very close to." He gave a courtly bow. "Please forgive any offense this custom may have done to you and yours."

Nero shook her head. "No, no. I would be a poor host, and a poor Emperor if I was to hold such a petty thing against those who aided us in battle against the treacherous fakes who dare to call themselves the United Roman Empire. I shall honor your customs in respect for the great service you have done my men!"

"United….Roman Empire?" Mash raised her hand. "Forgive me, Emperor Nero, as we are travelers new to this land, and this is the first we have heard of this United Roman Empire."

"Does Rome fight amongst itself?" asked Kratos.

At the sound of Kratos' voice, Nero's eyes widened, and she seemed almost as if she stifled a shiver. "Truly, you see to the heart of the matter." She frowned. "My beautiful Rome is beset by traitors claiming to be the true Roman Empire - fakes and liars who seek to destroy all that is wonderful about my Rome."

She placed her hands on her hips, drawing herself up to her full (insignificant) height. "We fight them daily - those soldiers you helped us see off were but one of their many cowardly armies."

A considering look came into her eyes. "They seem to have their issues with you, newly come as you are to my Empire as you are. Could I persuade you to accompany me back to glorious Rome, where I could show you all the wonders of my city, and perhaps discuss an alliance with such doughty warriors as you?"

Cu shrugged. "No objections here. Would give us a chance to get the lay of the land."

'And a city like that is bound to have a leyline beneath it. Be nice if we could resupply and switch people in and out easier - I don't think any of us are looking forward to another experience like France.'

'Agreed.'

sent Kratos.

"Your terms are acceptable," he stretched his hand out. "We will accept your offer of hospitality."

"Umu!" She took his hand in both of her small ones and shook it eagerly. "Then follow me, and prepare yourself to lay eyes upon the greatest city in history!"

The Emperor had managed to get her army moving with a minimum of fuss. Kratos and the rest of the Chaldeans (as they were using that as the name of their homeland) had been afforded a spot in the train slightly behind the Emperor, who was riding in a chariot - deep in conversation with her officers. She had seemed to want to exchange more words with the Chaldeans, but had been corralled by her officers almost as soon as the army had begun their march.

"Fujimaru," began Chiron. "If you would not mind, I would like to hear your story about how you learned so much about Homunculi."

Fujimaru looked around at the group. "I don't really mind, but, I mean…" She shrugged. "It's not really the most interesting stuff."

"Would give us something to focus on other than marching," said Cu. "Unless anything in there is some kind of big Mage secret or something. The Romans might not care, but we don't know what kind of ears Lev has out - if that bastard's even here."

"Nah. It's all pretty mundane." She took a deep breath, and then began talking.

"So, my dad's not native-born Japanese. He was born in America, only met my mom through his job." She waved her hands. "Dad's family, the Chuda, they moved to America back in Meiji - Meiji wasn't just the Chosu and Satsuma and other clans getting their payback for being on the losing side against the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Mage families used the Revolution to do the exact same thing. When my ancestors saw the direction the wind was blowing, they got out just ahead of the other Mage families that were after their heads. They could have tried to make a go of it in China, or Korea, but relations between those two places and Japan have never been…great, and the outlying islands or places like Australia were too close. They had a feeling if they tried to settle down somewhere close, they'd keep getting chased. Japanese Mage clans can be really, really vengeful"

"So, they picked up stakes, hopped on a boat, and settled down in California. Did pretty well for themselves…right up until World War 2."

Mash, Chiron, and Cu all winced, while Kratos frowned. "Yeah. They'd never made much of an effort to integrate or play nice with the locals - I think my great-grandparents still believed someday they'd be able to go back home to Japan and re-establish themselves there. So when America started opening internment camps for the Japanese, they were one of the first doors to be knocked on by the Mages in the government who were handling rounding up the displaced Mage families from Japan."

"Senpai…" began Mash.

"I won't repeat the stories grandad told me of the camps. Just imagine it was bad, and let's move on." She sighed. "As bad as the camps were, it was worse when they got out - the Mage families who had handled hauling them off to the camps had also looted everything they could from my family's workshops. They had…barely anything, really, when they got out. Almost not even the bootstraps to try to pull themselves up by."

"Gramma had dad pretty late in her life - there's a BIG gap between him and his brothers, and he could tell from a young age there wasn't going to be much for him. He was the third son, and the family was barely scraping by as it was. And he had a weird affinity - the family speciality was soothsaying and fortune telling, but he didn't have any knack for it. Instead, he's got a strong affinity for water magics - water spirits and elementals love the man, I swear."

She shook her head. "Anyways, when he graduated high school, he didn't have a lot of prospects. No money for college, not for the third son, and there wasn't going to be much of anything to be left for him in the family estate. So it was an easy choice for him to join the navy - especially with his affinity."

She linked her arms at the wrists and laid them against the back of her head, and stretched. "He was stationed overseas a lot - it's how he met my mom, when he was stationed in Japan. But before that, he was in Germany for a few years, and while he was there, he ran into the head of a local Mage family." She frowned. "I've never gotten the full story of what happened between them from him - I'd almost think a Geas Scroll was involved if he hadn't promised to tell me and my sister when we're 'old enough' ever since we were old enough to ask."

"Never mind that Susumu's 21 now - old enough to legally do everything you could want to do in Japan, and he's still keeping tight lipped on it." She shook her head. "Off-topic. Anyways, SOMETHING happened between him and Gordes Musik - if you made me guess, I'd guess someone saved someone else's life - or they saved each other's lives. Because the two of them have been thick as thieves ever since."

She smiled, thinking back. "Seems like every summer I can remember, we were either spending a couple of weeks in their estate in Germany, or they'd be visiting us in Japan. Summer breaks…they were really kind of nice. Though I don't think the Tooles liked me showing Gordy Ridge Racer in the arcades. He was already a bit of a nut for fast cars and racing - that probably only made things worse."

"Tooles?" Kratos' rumble jarred her from her memories.

She kicked her train of thought until it got back on the tracks. "The Homunculi the Musik family had as the tutor - and really nanny of their heir, Goredolf. They got up to the fourth one before he got old enough that he didn't need a tutor anymore. Their Homunculi didn't last super long - really a far cry from the immortal ideal Mages strive for in their created Servants. But when one…" She bit her lip. "I hate this term, but 'wore out' and stopped being able to function, they'd activate another one, with the same face and largely the same personality. So they kept the same name, but just with a number added."

She sighed. "It's probably why I'm a bit atypical when it comes to things like Homunculi and Servants - not like most Mages. I was never able to wrap my head around seeing them as just, y'know, tools. Probably since I was exposed to them since I was a little brat - I imprinted on them, or something, saw them as no different than people. The Homunculi the Musik family kept around, I mean." She shrugged. "But that carried over to Servants when I learned about them on the plane ride to Chaldea."

"But that's where I got my grounding in alchemy and Homunculi - 'cause my dad has some sort of bond with the Musik family. So much so that they were happy to teach me and Susumu some of their stuff when we'd visit during the summers, and we'd do the same when they'd come by our place."

"There was nothing in your file about this," said Roman, audio only still, but the consternation in his voice probably matched what was on his face. "A relationship with one of Europe's Mage Families…" He shook his head. "The Director would possibly have treated you a bit better had she known."

Fujimaru laughed. "Why would it have? The Clock Tower couldn't be bothered to care about where some backwater Mage family was spending their vacations - probably thought it was a good thing we were visiting somewhere civilized like Germany. And I'm sure the Musiks had a good excuse for their trips to deflect any suspicions - probably something suitably condescending about 'seeing how the savages in Japan lived'." She rolled her eyes as Roman sputtered something. "Don't bother denying it, Roman. I've heard how most Clock Tower Mages talk about my homeland - it doesn't really bother me. You guys don't think that way, and that's what matters. Not going to lose any sleep worrying about what a bunch of stuck-up Mages who'll never give me the time of day think."

No, her issues were, and always would be with what the people she loved thought about her - how little they believed in her.

"So, you know the current Heir, then?" asked Da Vinci. "You called him 'Gordy' a minute ago, so I assume the two of you are close."

"Yeah, despite there being like twelve years between us, and seven between him and Susumu, the three of us always got along well enough. He liked seeing Tokyo when he'd come to visit every other summer - though that might have just been because that was one of the few times the Tooles would let him out of their sight." Fujimaru smiled fondly. "He's a bit of a worrywart, but he's not a bad guy. Probably where I got some of my fondness for Homunculi from - despite how much he'd complain about how strict the Tooles were on him, you'd have to have been blind to not see how close he was to them."

Fujimaru considered for a second, then shrugged. In for a penny, in for a pound, she supposed. "I halfway think there might have been thoughts about engaging me to him, once upon a time." She ignored the simultaneous gasps from both Mash, Da Vinci, and, she supposed unsurprisingly, Roman. "When I was still really young, back when my parents were still holding out hope I was a 'late-bloomer'..." She made air quotes with her fingers here. "Mom sat me down and asked me some questions that, when I got older, were really specific and almost…leading. 'How did I like Germany?' 'What did I think of Goredolf?' Things like that."

She shook her head. "But when I turned out as a disappointment, that was probably the end of that. And there was no way they'd ever think about engaging Heir to Heir - completely unthinkable, so Susumu was out of the question. Not that I'd ever have gone along with it, anyways. Gordy's really not my type. If my parents had tried to force me into an arranged marriage like that, I'd have stolen a bike and taken off like some kind of yanki."

"Probably for the best," said Roman. "I know some Clock Tower families still practice arranged marriages, but they rarely work out well."

"I agree," said Mash, her cheeks puffed out. "Senpai should be allowed to choose who she wants to marry."

Fujimaru grinned, and snatched her Kohai up in a big hug. "Awww, Mash, that's sweet. I accept. Think we can have Emperor Nero do the service for us?"

Mash turned beet red and started sputtering, which was the whole point of it. Well, that and taking her mind off other things.

Like the fact that talking about her childhood reminded her that, besides her family, Gordy, the Tooles, and THEIR family were also ash in the wind.

And that she'd killed someone today.

"But anyways…" she said, still draped across her blushing Kohai. "That's how Ritsuka Fujimaru learned about Alchemy and Homunculi. Like I told Archer, not the most useful skills for the situation we're in - growing a Homunculi takes resources that would be better spent elsewhere given we're still picking ourselves up after Lev's sucker punch…" She trailed off.

"And here comes the Emperor, so I'm guessing we're getting close to Rome." She winced, as her feet renewed their complaints. "And just in time - it's getting dark, and my poor feet really aren't used to all this walking."

SITE OF CHALDEA'S ARRIVAL

MANY HOURS LATER

The night was deep when the Servant finally stirred from his position. The Chaldeans had been gone for hours, but his orders had been specific - and enforced with a Command Seal. He was to observe, then report back. And under no circumstances was he to be detected by the Chaldeans. So he'd stayed in his burrow, soil and grass covering him, not moving an inch. To be certain, you see.

The Command had just enough wiggle room to allow him to essentially shirk his duty by remaining hidden here, given plausibility because it was something he himself would do, go back to check a battlefield after the fact to make sure there were no loose ends. Justifying it that way was honestly some of the easiest mental gymnastics he'd done in his blood-soaked service.

But it was a pointless rebellion - eventually he would have to make his way back to his loathsome Master, and report. But every second he was here, and not doing the bidding of that Mage - if someone who set off every alarm bell in his head was just a Mage - was a second he was gifting to the Chaldeans. By now, they'd made it back to Rome, and saw how desperate the situation was. And if what he saw was any indication, they'd not waste time - they'd act.

Maybe the seconds he was buying them would be just enough to overcome the odds stacked against them.

Red, compelling energy flickered across his vision, and he knew he'd overstayed his grace period. The Chaldeans hadn't returned by now, which meant the Command Seal was reasserting its authority, telling him to return and give his report.

And he had a great deal to report. The bloody, apocalyptic histories of two weapons filled his mind, and the Command Seal was a beckoning voice, ordering him to speak of what he'd seen.

He stood, dirt cascading off his form, the dim moonlight catching on his silver hair, the wind ruffling at the hem of his long coat.

The man who had once been called Shirou Emiya, many, many lifetimes ago sighed, and began his trek to the north.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Training montage? Training montage.

It's never made too much sense for me for protag to be in the Chaldean uniform to start the story - they pretty much got dumped into Chaldea straight out of the flight/transport there, and then were immediately shoved into Olga's meeting. Never saw where they'd have had time to change. So Fujimaru in this story was running around Fuyuki in her street clothes. Also makes more sense that she'd stick out in the meeting and would draw Olga's eye, and ire, more easily.

As Achilles v Chiron in Fate: Apoc showed us, despite being an Archer, Chiron can throw HANDS. That was honestly, to me, a better fight than the much-lauded Sieg v Karna fight. Much less flashy and more brutal - but I still swoon to the Winter Soldier v Captain America bridge fight over anything else in the MCU for its brutal simplicity. And those knife-flips were sick as hell.

Largely making up the Homunculi stuff up a bit as I go on to serve the needs of the story.

Gods, I hope I am writing Nero right. She's my waifu prime, but I am so nervous over finally being able to try to handle her in this fic. Also trying not to go overboard with the 'Umus!', despite wanting to spam it like a looping NP.

Weird post time given my usual schedule, but this was almost finished earlier, and I meant to finish it before I started dinner, but Traum, and the Charlemagne rank up took longer than I expected, so you get this after dinner because it was ready, just had to give it a read over.

Hope you enjoy.

I'd claim this chapter is brought to you by something other than JoJos Intros 1, 2, 3, and 5, but I'd be lying. Damn ear worms.