*/*/*
Hakuno woke to a glass of water beside her bed. She briefly imagined Lancer carrying to the room while astral, making the school look haunted by floating water glasses. The mental image was enough to startle a huff out of her. It wasn't a laugh, Hakuno was still too raw and exposed for laughter. But it was better than nothing.
"Good morning, Master" Lancer greeted from his hammock. He looked her up and down before giving a slight nod, so she must have passed his inspection.
"Thank you for the water". Hakuno wondered if Lancer had been like this in his life. A kind man, trying his best to help. There was always the chance of course that Lancer had once been a terrible person, and this was his attempt to redeem himself as a Servant. Hakuno couldn't know which was the truth until she actually knew his name.
"Of course. Not like I can't manage to be at least a little domesticated". Lancer snickered, seeming pleased at a joke that Hakuno had missed. She decided to let him just have his weird sense of humor. An electronic beeping from her terminal broke the strange sort of peace in the room. It was a notification from the system. The next round of combatants had been announced on the bulletin board.
Whether Hakuno was ready or not, this war would continue forward. It was best for her to put one foot in front of the other so she could keep up. So, she got ready for the day and headed out to see what was next.
The second-floor bulletin board once again sported listings of matches. Hakuno traced her finger down the list of names, searching for her own. There she was. Automatically her finger followed the line to her opponent.
Master – Shin-Ả̶̛̪̖̽D̴̮̙̠̿s̷̥̀͑]̸̪̪̥̈́̊͂ḧ̶͈́͑ê̷͚̝̐̀-̴̡̰̈̅̉w̸̹̞̒͘i̷͔͂͒5̵̱̄$̵̟̹͚̕͠#̵̜́(̴̢͎̬͛̀Ý̷̨̗̥̚$̴̢̝͘̕%̴̮͇͍͌̑͛B̴̖͈̕D̶̡̄̄r̴̛̲̗͂̃i̸͉̿̈u̴̻̻͑̓͜y̶̝̖̍͗Ť̴͈͓̃̉}̵̢̛͖̞͊Ş̴͚̓̆Y̷̢͗̕̕F̸̬̐̏͠(̶̹̹̜̔̀̐+̴̩̂͛S̷̡̫̹̕:̸̛̬Ȏ̵̡̬̖͠͝P̶̤̔͘̕2̶̡̛̩̭̒̐e̷̞̍̾̇s̶̘̼̈T̴͍̥͒̀R̷̙̫̄̀Y̵͕͛{̸̭͛͂D̴̞̰̆F̴̛̞̗͝&̶͈̺̙̆̚͘G̶̘̅(̵̥̙̉͊̕S̴̝͉̟̈͘F̵̦͎̐h̴̫͕̖̎̚7̷̣̗̈ͅ8̸̡̡̞̅̀r̷̥̲̾Ọ̵̿͜J̴̠͖̽͜=̵̲̤͘J̶̯͔̅̋͝ͅȀ̵̭̽
Hakuno jolted at the static shock she received, jerking her hand away. What was that?! She looked back at the listing, attempting to gain an understanding.
Master – Dan Blackmore. Battlefield – Second Chimeric Lunar Sea.
"It seems that you're my next opponent" the voice came from behind her. Hakuno turned and saw the mysterious old man in green from the garden. The now named Dan Blackmore wore his age well. Like a dragon, he'd only grown more dangerous as time had gone by. "That look in your eyes. You're mourning your first opponent, aren't you? To show that so openly means you're a green novice. You look lost. To enter a battlefield like that means that you will die." Blackmore ended the conversation, walking away. Even his steps seemed to echo with the purpose he held, and that Hakuno lacked.
That one's seen his fair share of battle. Be careful, Master. He'll be a different sort of beast than the previous match. Lancer seemed to approve of this match more, but Hakuno wasn't paying real attention. Master? Something wrong?
We need to go back to the room. NOW. She needed to know she wasn't crazy.
Sounds serious. 2-B was thankfully only a short walk down the hallway from the bulletin board. Upon entering, Lancer manifested with his head tilted. Hakuno jolted, as if almost surprised to see him. "What's wrong?"
"There's something… strange going on. I feel like I'm going nuts" Hakuno could only hope that Lancer didn't think she actually was insane after this conversation.
"Strange how?" Lancer sat in his hammock without breaking eye contact. Showing he was serious.
"When we picked up that very first trigger it was registered as xi. Then there was a staticky noise in my head and when I blinked it changed itself to alpha."
Lancer considered it for a moment. "The knowledge I got from the Grail says that xi is the fourteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and alpha the first" he provided.
"I thought maybe I'd been tired or something and imagined it. But then Sakagami said weird things before… before he vanished."
"About you being like the sibling of someone he should know." It was good to know that Lancer had been paying attention to it after all.
"And now with the bulletin board. It was going to read someone else's name. Then I got zapped with some more static. And it swapped itself to Dan Blackmore afterwards. On top of all that fighting against Dan feels… correct? Somehow? And now looking back, facing off against Sakagami feels wrong? Like we were supposed to fight someone else and Sakagami wasn't even supposed to be someone I knew?" Hakuno was pacing in circles. "It gets worse! Just now! When you appeared to talk, it felt off! Like we've worked together, but it wasn't supposed to be now? That you're supposed to be somewhere else? Fighting with someone else? I don't know! This is all hurting my head!"
Silence fell for a moment between them. "I don't have the answers to your questions, Master" Lancer gave a sigh. "I wish I did. I haven't been noticing these things you're talking about. But I've seen you act weird a time or two. Must be when you're getting these 'zaps' of yours. What do you want to do about it?"
"I… I don't know that there's much that can be done." Hakuno put her head in her hands.
"Then we keep moving forward". Lancer knew when to be blunt, and his words felt like they bonked against Hakuno's head in gentle reprimand. "That's what your favorite solution is, isn't it? Maybe we'll find answers. Maybe we won't. It's possible we'll win this whole thing and end up with even more questions. There's no sense in you making yourself go gray from worrying about something you can't fix." He leaned back against the wall before continuing. "Don't get me wrong, Master. I'm not saying you should ignore this or forget about it. Just like that first death, it's something you should keep in mind. All I'm saying is I think you shouldn't drive yourself crazy with it. And maybe tell me when these things happen next time? I might not be able to do much, but I like to think I can at least provide moral support."
Hakuno nodded, she could do that at least "You'll be the first to know." Then, following some form of impulse she offered him her pinkie.
Lancer looked at her hand. Then back to her. Finally, the man gave a barking laugh as he stood. "An gealltanas é sin? Alright, Master. I'll hold you to that." He crossed the distance between them and looped his pinkie in hers. Then Lancer gave a roguish wink and a teasing grin. "If I were a fae you'd be in serious danger."
Lancer really did have a weird sense of humor as far as Hakuno was concerned. And she really needed to stop forgetting to look up what language that was!
*/*/*
With renewed purpose, Hakuno set out into the school. Maybe there was another Master here that might know more about her opponent. There was always the chance people might know something and choose not to share, but she would not know without this attempt. Everyone was looking down on her anyway so they might share even if just in the hopes that she would be an easier opponent than Blackmore in the later rounds. Her search led her to the rooftop and Rin. Enjoying the view of the blue sky, even if computer generated, must be something they had in common.
Rin acknowledged Hakuno, turning to speak before Hakuno could even voice her questions. "I heard about your next match. A retired decorated soldier. And a sniper who served a kingdom that allies itself with the Harway family." Apparently, Rin was going to share, even without needing to be asked. Tohsaka tossed her hair over her shoulder as she continued. "Things like crawling a mile in the dirt, sniping the enemy commander. He's used to that. A completely different sort than your first opponent. Treat them the same at your own peril." Rin gave Hakuno a side-eyed look. "Have your memories returned?"
"... No" Hakuno was never really good at lying.
"Without memories or a reason to fight, you'll be dead in the water against someone like him. A soldier fights out of obligation. Everyone else fights for a goal. Without that drive, even with the strongest Noble Phantasm, he'll make quick work of you." Hakuno's face must've been blank. Rin's gaze sharpened. "What's with that look, don't you know what a Noble Phantasm is?"
"My opponent used theirs?" Hakuno offered.
Rin face palmed. "They're like King Arthur's Excalibur. It's the power that makes a Servant a Servant. An item from their story or a crystallization of concept from their legend." She read Hakuno's blank expression easily enough. "You don't have a Noble Phantasm? You weren't making full use of your Servant and you still managed to come out on top? I may have to reevaluate you". Rin shook her head with a sigh. "There's something really off about you, you know. No memories, no Noble Phantasm. Yet you just keep going. I suggest you get to work on fixing some of those deficiencies." The one-sided conversation must have been over, as Rin turned back to observing the scenery.
Dazed and confused, Hakuno went back inside. Rin was a contradiction. Helpful yet aggressive in putting Hakuno in her place. It was hard to know what to make of it all. She mentally poked at Lancer, thoughts still playing the conversation over. Noble Phantasm?
Technically, the little spitfire was wrong. You've got access to my Noble Phantasm. Lancer answered easily. But. Mine is similar to Excalibur. One use and everyone knows who I am. I'm grateful that it's not so bad that others would recognize my Noble Phantasm on sight like anyone would recognize that sword. But there's only two Spirits with my kind of Noble Phantasm. Myself and Shishou. It's kind of easy to tell who is who. Unless you start having the Grail pull alternate versions of ourselves that swapped genders or something I guess. The Grail gets weird sometimes.
It wasn't like anyone was allowed to observe the fight of others. Yet, Hakuno knowing the information would register Lancer's True Name and Noble Phantasm in her Matrix. And if someone could find a way to hack that… It would be a disaster. We'll save it for later, she answered his statements with her own.
Plus, I'm having fun making you guess, Master. Lancer had to ruin the serious moment with his mischief. It's kinda nice being incognito.
Little shit.
The moment was further ruined by an electronic beep. Once again, a cipher key had been generated by the Moon Cell in the Arena.
Looks like it's back to work, Master.
Hakuno was of the opinion that the Moon Cell really didn't like giving people a lot of time on their hands. But with how much progress she'd been making, Hakuno couldn't say that Lancer's daily Arena drills weren't at least helping. And they would need both triggers to enter the coliseum.
They made their way to the Arena, and a presence near the door had Hakuno automatically hiding herself. There in front of the doors were Dan and someone that could only be his Servant. "Our next opponent is young. Though she did survive the first round. Be on your guard, and no more of this 'gut feeling' nonsense." Dan sounded like he was scolding a misbehaving youth.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Whoever they are, they'll be dead facing off against us." The second man in green was flippant. "Though I suppose they did kill once. I should respect their survival at the very least."
"Your arrogance will be our doom. Follow my commands and no more acting on your own like the first round."
"Sure boss, you got it". And into the Arena the two went.
Hakuno felt Lancer behind her, and the sensation of his back against hers though he remained unseen. We go from a punk Master to a punk Servant it seems. But it would be foolish to underestimate him just because he's mouthy. And that Master of his will likely keep the stupidity to a minimum. Unfortunately for us. Hakuno got the sense that Lancer shifted, and that he was looking over his shoulder at her. They went into the Arena. Are we still going in too? We might not be able to avoid them.
We'll go in. We might be able to see them fight the programs. A sense of how the Servant fought might reveal his class.
So long as you're prepared, I've got no protests. Lancer's invisible weight removed itself from her back. Hakuno checked her inventory and mentally braced herself before opening the doors of the Arena and stepping inside.
At least this servant probably won't flirt with you. Maybe. She teased her servant back, tallying up a win for her as he grumbled mentally.