Nitocris V

"So," Drake placed her teeth on the cork of a bottle, and pulled it free. She spat it out, the sound of it hitting the floor seeming to echo along the walls of the chamber. She leaned back as she placed the bottle of what was likely an exceedingly high proof of alcohol along her lips. As she lounged along the couch of very fine and plush cushions. She then lowered it, her eyes trying to pierce them all, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Nitorcis grumbled as she adjusted her bottom on the rough wooden stool, thinking all the while that Drake had gone out of her way to make this as uncomfortable as possible Her master and the other servants of their party had been given stools of a similar quality. She gulped as she took in the disdain dripping from Drake, and once again felt like slamming her head into a wall.

'Ritsuka just had to come in here swinging it around like he had nothing to lose,' she seethed internally. Her master would do things like this at times, run off half cocked and lead to really bad situations, 'Now she's pissed off, and we probably have a horde of angry sea thugs ready to gut us for butting our heads in here,' she raised her hand to her temple, and tried to massage the pain along the bridge of her nose away, 'Gods, why couldn't I have gotten a master with a bit more…I don't know, instinct for self-preservation maybe?'

"Good to see you Drake," Ritsuka said, his voice blithe. It nearly caused Nitocris to fall over.

"That wasn't my question," Drake said, swirling the bottle in her hands, her eyes still focused on the liquor. Nitocris gave a quick look to her right, and saw that Emiya was staring directly at the pirate captain, his fingers strumming against his knee. He was agitated, but…it was something besides what was bothering her. Emiya was more prudent than their master, the Counter-Guardian's initial desire at the arena in New Ghis immediately coming to mind, yet he was also not one to allow situations like this to bother him.

'Most likely about that intruder last night,' Nitocris considered, remembering the image of the other man in a long red cloak on a far away rooftop, her magic traveling only so far to try and reach and strike him, 'even if Drake does come, there are other things here,' she scowled further, 'which is why antagonizing Drake was not a good idea! We have enough problems already!'

"Well it was a dumb ass question-"

'And then there is the witch,' Nitocris could not contain herself from slamming her hand into her forehead. Jeanne Alter was sitting with her legs crossed, resting her cheek on her knuckle as she glared at Drake. Nitocris pulled her hand down, and then saw that Ritsuka's smile had grown slightly larger, and had to fight from smacking her forehead again, 'Anubis the protector, she just makes him worse.'

"So maybe," Jeanne Alter continued, "he didn't have to fucking answer it."

Drake, impressively, didn't even move a muscle at the witch's outburst, just taking another swig of her drink, before wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her, leaving a stain on the white wool shirt. She then swept her feet back beneath her, so she could fully sit up. From that position, she drank again, before placing the bottle down heavily on the table in front of her. She looked up, her eyes up to meet Jeanne Alter's, before she let out a snort, which caused the false saint's hair to bristle. She smiled, and then leaned back.

"Well, I suppose you would know something about fucking being the answer, wouldn't you?"

Nitocris's eyes widened. Jeanne Alter shot to her feet, a flame in her left hand. Emiya's hand shot out in front of Jeanne Alter, and while it held her in place, the witch snarled at the pirate, who just sat there smirking. Nitocris felt her jaw fall loose as she stared at Drake, before turning her head toward the young man sitting at their front. His shoulders had hitched, his fists were clenched, and his face was scrunched.

"That was uncalled for," came her master's voice, and Nitocris could only dumbly nod. Jeanne Alter was nowhere near Nitocris's fellow servant, but, to bring up Jeanne Alter's past…gods Drake was from Braavos, and she should be the most sympathetic to what a former slave like Jalter had gone through.

"Like disrupting my entire operation so you can swing your dick around?" Drake's words cut back to Chaldea's master, and then she turned her head, "Tell me, Kid," Nitocris winced at the bite in that name, "What did you think when you decided to waltz into my palace, acting like you owned the place, with hundreds of bloodthirsty thugs ready to gut you like a fish on my say so, and proceed to go out of your way to try and humiliate me?"

"Well, I was thinking that it was awfully strange that a pirate just so happened to be referencing her favorite movie while trying to calm down those said "Hundreds of Bloodthirsty thugs"," Ritsuka's fingers moved up and down to quote Drake.

Drake raised an eyebrow, "Was that all it took to figure out that I remembered?"

"No," Ritsuka growled, and Nitocris could remember Ritsuka talking it through with all of them as they had wandered into the Drowned Town, an edge slowly but surely building in her Master's voice as he put together that Drake was already fully aware of who she was, "Firstly, there were just too many coincidences, like a Golden Deer ship, the use of the term privateer," Drake twisted her face at that, "But mostly, it wasn't even you using that quote that made me know, it was when I saw you, and saw that you clearly haven't aged for about a half decade despite being at sea, and me comparing what you should look like at this age to what you look like right now," he leaned back, "Xuanzang is the only one of you I've seen besides you that looks younger than thirty, and that was because she managed to figure out who she was on her own."

"Then why bring up the Depp quote?" Drake turned her head to the side.

"Because it would be the thing that you couldn't really deny," Ritsuka fingers twitched, "That, and making a big scene in front of everyone meant you couldn't give me the runaround," he leaned his head to his side, "And don't try to deny it Drake," he sighed, "I know you. If I send in a message, you would have a couple of your mates sit me down for half a day, and then have someone come and tell me that you got called away for something important on the sea, and be gone for months, hoping I'd be gone before you got back."

Drake stared at their Master for a second, before she spat, "My word kid, you are all full of piss and vinegar today aren't you," she shook her head, "If I'd been told you'd show up, I would have expected you to come in, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to give me some speech on friendship and camaraderie. But here you are, kicking down my door and acting like I pissed in your breakfast."

"I'm pissed off because you've known who you are for half a decade, and as far as I can see," he clenched his hands together, "Not only have you been partying the whole time instead of trying to figure out what's going on," he pointed his thumb to his left, at a great tapestry covering the wall filled with water and fire, "You've gone out of your way to flaunt your proper human history too while you've been here."

"I wanted to spice the palace a bit," she waved her hand around, "That I was the only one who recognized the fire ships, then that just meant I was pulling a good joke," her voice was completely calm.

"When you realized who you were, why didn't you look for a way back?" NItocris finally spoke up, causing the woman's eyes to snap towards the taller man, "Only two of the other servants we've encountered have woken up before we arrived," Drake blinked as the Pharaoh continued "Arash was a slave, so he was unable to leave the pits," Nitocris had to consciously keep herself from wincing at the memory of the Persian Hero, "But Xuanzang was able to center herself, and once she did, she left her homeland and wandered looking for some way back."

The monk had actually explained it as a feeling that there was something for her to gain by going west. Nitocris was sure that was part of it, though she wouldn't have been surprised if it was Xuanzang's own legend seeping into her soul that lead her to make the trip from Yi Ti all the way to Qaarth, and that fateful meeting in the streets with Emiya that night.

"Well I'm not a monk."

"No shit," Jeanne Alter snapped. Drake looked back at her, and then shook her head, chuckling as she looked down at her boots, "Something funny?" the witch asked, ready to call back her flames at the first sign of approval of her master.

"A lot of things," Drake then moved her eyes all over them, "So many things are very funny."

"Drake," Ritsuka rubbed his hand through his hair, "Part of you had to know that this was coming," his voice was level, "You had to know, once you remembered who you were, that I and Chaldea were coming to get you. That," he looked around, "That you were going to have to leave all of this, and come back to Chaldea," he blinked, "You've been…very helpful to me ever since we met Drake," there was something at the back of his voice, "Listen, I will need your advice going forward once we get back on Storm Gli-"

"I'm not going back," Drake said and Nitocris winced, "Kid, I know you aren't used to someone telling you no, but let me be clear, I'm done with Chaldea, and with you," she seemed to relax a bit, having finally said what she had wanted to from the very beginning of this conversation, "This is my place now, so you can just run along on your next time warpwithout me."

"That isn't happening," Ritsuka had tensed, "We made a deal in Okeanos tha-"

"I made a deal for me to help you kill Geotia," Ritsuka scowled at being cut off, but didn't respond in kind, as Drake continued, "You asked me to help you take down a demon trying to wipe out human history, and I signed up for that," She then leaned back, "And what do you know, we did it," she waved her hand in the air, before letting it fall to the cushion on her side, "Or well, Doc did it," Ritsuka flinched, "Really, all we did was make sure the great Solomon got sacrifice himself for the good of humanity," she raised her bottle up again, "A toast, to the idol nerd."

"What are y-" Ritsuka had stood up, his teeth visibly clinched, "You-why," he spat and coughed, before taking in a deep breath through his nostrils. He stared at Drake for a minute, before closing his eyes, taking yet another breath, and opening them, a calm having seemed to return, "You really shouldn't talk about Romani like that Drake."

"Oh my, you actually had to hold my real name in then didn't you?" Drake pointed at Ritsuka and laughed. Nitocris blinked, and then looked at Ritsuka, who seemed dumbfounded, "What is it, do you think hiding my real name would serve as some kind of bargaining chip, or are you just trying to be nice."

"Rea-," Nitocris slowly remembered the name that Drake had been called rather interchangeably over the day they'd been in Braavos, "Lisabe-!"

"Elizabeth the First of England," Emiya's face didn't move an inch. Drake gave him a look, as he sighed, and added, "I feel as though, in some past war, that hinted that you were her, Drake," he then looked at Ritsuka, "So, you were hiding it at her request I take it?"

"We had a talk in Okeanos about responsibility and leadership," Ritsuka then turned his head toward her, "One, I'd think, we should review again," Drake rolled her eyes, "Drake, from everything I've seen, it seems like this has been a really…," he paused, "engaging way to spend a few years."

"Oh, more than engaging," Elizabeth the First did a very unqueenly thing as she proceeded to lift her feet of the planks beneather, her, and place them on the table next to her drink, "You know, even back when I was out, switching out with Drake," she stopped, and looked at Nitocris, "A girl I met in Proper Human History who looked as though she was my twin," Nitocris could only nod at the explanation, "There was still so much shit to it that ruined half the fun," she raised a finger into the air, "We would have to switch back and forth after every mission, and I had to be on time so we wouldn't get stuck in a bad way. I had to go about, doing whatever I could for "Queen and Country". Had to bow, curtsy, follow a mass of custom and manner, despite everything I gave up for the ungrateful bastards."

"And," her fingers slipped diagonally down Drake's face, where Nitocris remembered a long scar having once cut into her face, "God, did I give up some things for that bloody island."

Nitocris briefly wondered about pushing further, but decided against it. The throne only gave what knowledge was necessary to awakened Heroic Spirits, and she had no real experience with England during Dra-Elizabeth's time. But she knew the outlines of every Heroic Spirit's life. Higher calling, great deeds, slow erosion of morals to accomplish those deeds, either a burn out or fade away at the end.

Resentment was unusual.

"But here," Drake waved her arm around, "I don't have that stupid fucking island to worry about anymore. Oh, sure, I have to do politics," she smiled, "But let me tell you something, being the daughter of a sealord is so much easier than being the daughter of Henry Tudor," she paused, her eyes going off into the distance, "Certainly being an only daughter makes life so much more bearable in this life," again, a story there. But Drake just shook her head, her daze seeming to disappear, and she said, "But Lizabet Antaryon has no need to worry about things like a horrible brother-in-law coming to bring a "True Faith" back to an island that he barely had any right to," she raised a fist into the air, "She just has to manage a bunch of pirates, and then reap in a golden crop," she rested back into her cushions, beginning to sink among the silk and feathers, "So it has not just been "Engaging"," she smirked, "It has been exhilarating. I can finally be who I always wanted to be, do what I always wanted to do, eat what I want to eat," she then gave another look at Jeanne Alter, "Fuck who I want to fuck."

"I wouldn't touch you with a hundred foot pole you limey hag," the witch snapped.

"Oh there you go," Lizabet sputtered her lips, "Using insults of a people that have never existed in this world. Besides, if everything I heard about Shinjuku happened, you were interested in another limey hag," a middle finger was raised in response, "Oh god, what would your original think of such daliances?" Lizabet smirked, "Though considering what you've been up in this life, I'm sure she will think that about you no ma-"

"GYAH!" Jalter lunged forward, only to be caught by the arms of Emiya. However, even as she struggled to begin to get up and fight the other woman, Ritsuka had also stood up from his stool, walked over, and smashed his hand onto the table.

"Stop," Ritsuka growled through gritted teeth, "Talking about that."

"Or what?" Drake tittered, "Besides, I'm sure she's been showing you everything she's learn-"

"Enough!" Emiya's voice cut through Drake's words, "Drake, what the hell are you doing?" Drake twisted her head to regard the counter-guardian, "I understand you are upset, but you are acting like a spoiled child."

"You are the ones acting like spoiled children. You come into my hall, making a fool out of me, and then expect for me to fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness," she was on her feet now, "This is where I was meant to be. I've lived a full life here, a good one, and I'm not about to drop three decades of blood sweat and tears now that you all decide to finally show up," she then smirked, "this is the life I always wanted. So, you little shit," she pointed directly into Ritsuka's face, "Shove off, before I call my men in here."

"Drake," Nitocris tried to cut in. Clearly Ritsuka and Drake had too much bad blood to be allowed to remain the driving force of this conversation, "There is no need to get violent," however, even as she spoke up, the sneer on Drake's face grew more and more manic, "I am sure we can find some way to accommodate yo-"

"Christ, you are a pathetic thing aren't you?" Nitocris blanked at the pirate's words, "Do you even try and stand up for yourself? My god, it's like I'm looking at a rabbit about to be eaten by a fox," she pointed directly in Nitocris's face, "This guy probably only had to waltz into whatever shit hole you found yourself born into and you got down on your hands and knees and kissed his toes."

"I did no such thing!" Nitocris could feel her face flush, "I was a," she paused, a bit of shame about her new life coming back, "I was a member of a great house of Mereen-"

"Pfft, that figures. Never really tried to figure out where the rest of you ended up after all, but that shithole must have reminded you of cruising down the Nile" Drake cut her off, and Nitocris balled her fist, "Should have expected you'd end up there," she smiled, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. From finery and gold to, well," Nitocris pushed some magic into her hands, only to stop as she saw Emiya move forward, "Driftwood."

"Dra-"

"And you," she turned her head toward Emiya, who was still trying to restrain Jeanne Alter, "You think I'm the only one who is going to fight like tooth and nail to stay here?" her smile was now a bit manic, "LIke I told the coward over there," Nitocris felt her jackal ears stand on end, "I didn't look much, but even I was able to find out about one little girl who got born here too," she smiled as Emiya's eyes widened while he set his jaw, "Your sweet little Lion, married with a family. Do you know how many pups she's had?" she raised a hand, with all the fingers and thumb extended, directly in Emiya's face, "Five. She has five little lordlings. Hell," there was a chuckle at the back of her voice, "Wouldn't surprise me if she pops out a sixth any day no-"

CRUNCH

Drake was sent flying backwards over the couch, knocking the piece of furniture over, "HOW ABOUT THAT YOU WHORE!" Jeanne Alter screamed, Emiya having released her from his grasp. Ritsuka turned to glare at the taller man, who could only answer with a guilty smile, before he sighed, and placed a hand on the witch's shoulder. She turned back at him, her teeth grit, tears running down her face. She raised her fist towards him, only to pause, cough, and then lower it, "Sorry," she said, "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about," the Master's voice was very calm, before bringing his hand to the witch's shoulder, "You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I think she has something to be sorry about," Drake groaned from her position splayed over the couch. As she stood back up, she rubbed her finger over her nose, "Ah, good thing that I'm a servant, or else that might have broken my nose."

"Maybe I should add some fire next time," Jeanne Alter growled.

"Knew you were that witch in Volantis," the pirate admitted as she pushed herself to her feet, "that other red priestess, Melissa or something," Jeanne Alter's back snapped straight at that name, "Mentioned a girl of your coloring taking over her cult and kicking her out," she then smirked, "I thought the history as a whore was just her being snappish, though that burn under your eye confirms that."

"Drake, I'd have shut my mouth a long fucking time ago if I were you," their master growled.

"Oh, you actually said a naughty word?" Drake laughed, "I will keep moving my mouth however I damn well please."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Ritsuka got to his feet, "You know we aren't leaving here without you. You are a member of Novum Chaldea despite whatever life you've lived here. All you've done is manage to piss off three of your fellow servants, for what, to just get some kind of satisfaction in upsetting them?"

"I'm not leaving."

"You are," Ritsuka held up his right arm, and the red tattoos that made up his command seals seemed to pulse along his skin, "Even if you think you just signed up for fighting against Goetia, that isn't what the Chaldea system thinks. As far as it is concerned, you are still my servant," he pointed his arm in Drake's face, and said, "So you are coming with us."

"Make me."

Ritsuka continued to point his arm at the pirate, his eyes meeting her's. As their eyes locked together, both seemed to refuse to blink. After half a minute though, Ritsuka blinked first, and the pirate smirked in victory. 'I don't know why he even tried to stare her down,' Nitocris thought to herself, 'She's a heroic spirit more or less, of course she has more endurance than a normal human,' she sighed as Ritsuka continued to stare at his insubordinate servant, watching as Drake folded her arms, and Ritsuka's right hand tightened into a fist, 'I don't even know why he bothered trying that,' she shook her head, 'Certainly with three command seals, he can order her to-'

Ritsuka lowered his arm to his side, the sudden movement pulling Nitocris away from her thoughts. He stared at his opponent, before shaking his head, standing up, and turning away from the pirate. He wordlessly began to walk towards the door they had come in, hands in his trouser pockets, teeth bared as he retreated. Nitocris watched with wide eyes as her master retreated.

"What?" she asked, only to see Emiya and Jalter, slowly march up behind RItsuka, away from the room, "Wai-what are you all doing?"

"Running off with your tail between your legs," Drake answered, slowly rubbing her nose, then holding out her hand to make sure that there was no blood from the earlier strike, "Probably for the best, considering I could call my men in here to deal with you all if I really needed to," she waved her fingers to Nitocris, "Go ahead and get out of here, little coward," before she stopped, and then smiled broadly while sliding her eyes from Nitocris's face down her body, "Unless, maybe you'd like to see what life is like under a different master?"

"Gah!" Nitocris spun away from the taller woman, before rushing past the furniture, and running up next to the rest of her team. They pushed through the door, passing by the young woman with short brown hair that had been shadowing Drake as they had been coming to this room. She glared at Ritsuka, her hand near an axe on her hip, daring him to do something. When he passed by without even looking at her, she pushed past Nitocris, grabbing the door they had just come through, and slamming it behind her.

"We were readying to come help our captain," Nitocris's attention turned to an older man, shorter than either of his female crewmates. Yet that was perhaps only easy to spot when behind him was a rather large Dothraki with a polearm resting on his shoulders, "I suggest you take advantage of what remains of our hospitality and get the hell out of our town."

"That would perhaps be best," Emiya said, while Ritsuka kept his mouth shut.

"Go directly east," the man pointed out another large door, "Do not stop until you have left our town. We have enough men watching you that any attempt to remain will be spotted, and dealt with," the older man raised his gaze up, craning his neck to meet Emiya, whose face did not move a muscle under the gaze of this old pirate, "Now get the hell out of my sight."

They didn't stop moving. As the old man had said, they had been followed the entire time, mostly on nearby rooftops by men with crossbows from what Nitocris had been able to tell. Not that they had tried anything. It took less than a half an hour to get out of the Drowned Palace, and soon they found themselves back onto cobble stones rather than wooden planks. And in that whole time none of them had said a word.

That ended as soon as they found a small back alley a couple of blocks from the Drowned Town.

"FUCK!" Ritsuka shouted, his face red and teeth snarled, "That self-important, drunken ass!" He made to throw a fist against a wall, only to have his arm caught by Emiya right before it collided with the stone. Ritsuka snapped his head toward the Counter-Guardian, and snarled, "Let go of-"

"I'm not about to let you hurt yourself," Emiya stated. For a moment, Ritsuka and he locked eye contact, before Ritsuka took in a large breath through his nostrils, and allowed his arm to slacken. Emiya continued to hold it, refusing to take his eyes off the younger man. Finally, Ritsuka gave him a nod, and Emiya let go, before adding, "This is something we all have to deal with, so you better get your head on straight before you make some mistake."

"Yeah," Ritsuka sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"Mistake?" Nitocris finally spoke up, the thought that had been clinging to the back of her mind finally being given voice, "Oh, he's already made them!" she began to pace, "First, you go in swinging your dick around, meaning that no matter what, Drake was going to be pissed off at you," she pointed a finger at his face, "Then, you manage to make it worse, because instead of going in with a plan where only those who understand diplomacy talk, you let her," she gestured at Jeanne Alter, "Run her mouth, which was bound to make the situation worse," and then, she brought up her fingers to the bridge of her nose, "but we could have dealt with all of that, if you were actually willing to back up your arrogance," she reached out, and grabbed Ritsuka's right arm, "WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE COMMAND SEALS?"

Ritsuka looked down at his arm, the red ink of the tattoos rolling along his arm, before sighing, and saying, "Because that was what Drake wanted."

"What she want-what?"

"Drake went completely scorch earth in there," Ritsuka explained, looking back at the wooden structures sticking out of the sunken city, "She revealed to you all openly that she is Elizabeth the First, and let me tell you, that's not how I ever thought she would act," Ritsuka sighed, "I went in thinking I had more leverage than I thought I did, and she tossed her real identity, our agreement to say human history, whatever good will she had with any of you, all of it directly in my face," he looked at Nitocris, "Did you ever think Drake would insult you like she just did back there?"

"Well," Nitocris thought for a second, before shaking her head, "No," Drake and Nitocris had never been close, though Nitocris had never been the most outgoing. But Drake had, and every interaction they had had had been friendly enough. Certainly nothing to the level of vitriol that even Nitocris had experienced today, much less anything that, say, Jeanne Alter got. Nitocris looked over at the false saint, but the other woman was looking in another direction.

"Right, Bess was ready to burn all her bridges," Ritsuka looked at the ground, "Though maybe I made it easier for her to do so," before Nitocris could say anything to agree, he continued, "But…I think on some level, she was prodding me to use the command seals," he stared at his hand thoughtfully, "and she probably thought…she wins either way."

"I mean, you give up and run away, she wins because she gets to stay," Nitocris got how one of those was a victory for her, "But…if you did-"

"Then she's right about me," Ritsuka said.

"Are you kidding," Emiya cut in, "That's all?" his scowl grew, "Master, I know you can tend to like not being an ordinary magus, but I never thou-"

"And she'd make sure we all knew it every step going forward," Ritsuka continued, "I…I really don't like ordering anyone with these things," he raised up the command seals for all to see, "But more importantly, with all her attitude, she was telling me she'd do everything in her power to make our lives hell if I ordered her with it," Ritsuka sighed, "Every time I'd order her to get in a fight, or sail us across the water, or," his eyes fluttered up to Jeanne Alter, "Or just stop being a bitch, I'd have to use a command seal. She'd even consider herself justified, after all, I would be forcing her to leave against her will," he looked Emiya in the eye, "I don't need to tell you, that we might need these for something big. So I'm not about to throw away these command seals just to get her to do her job."

"...that's a much better explanation," Nitocris admitted. Ritsuka seemed to sigh, and allowed his arm with the command seals fall to his side, "I suppose it would be best for you to have those in case something really large appears, or if we need a burst of healin-."

"Ritsuka," Emiya's voice cut Nitocris off, and she glared over at him, only to see his iron grey pupils boring into the younger man, "That is a fine enough explanation, but don't think I don't see what's going on," he folded his arms together, "There are times you remind me of a fool I really despise."

At that, they fell into an awkward silence. Ritsuka and Emiya looked at one another, but neither was going to make the first word on that line of conversation. Nitocrids looked back and forth between the two me, the master and servant, the teacher and pupil, but she couldn't find a word to try and lead them in a different direction.

"Let's go."

So it was up to Jeanne Alter to readjust everything. The girl was still staring away from them, but had moved from a wall toward the end of the alley way. As she advanced down the stone alley, Nitocris watched as the witch slumped forward. She looked back at Ritsuka, who was staring at the other woman's back, before he sighed.

"Yeah," he said, "We should get back."

It was the middle of the afternoon when they had returned to the Outcast Inn. Nitocris sighed as they entered, not even bothering to look over at her companions. It had taken at least an hour longer than they had hoped, perhaps two, and the foul mood had stuck with them all ever since they had left the drowned palace. Certainly, it was appropriate with the smell of the inn itself, a long dead fire mixing with the fumes of the harbor and all the runoff of the city certainly explained why they had been able to afford a full floor to themselves.

"I'm going to my room," Jeanne Alter said, rushing toward the stairs.

"Wait Jeannette," Ritsuka reached out his hand, but before he could stop her, she had already climbed out of sight. He stopped, and sighed.

"She'll," Emiya said, causing Ritsuka to look over at the older man, "She'll come around," and Ritsuka continued to frown, though he nodded. The Counter-Guardian then took the time to look around, before his eyes widened. Nitocris followed his eyes, and saw Baelon sitting in a corner, not sticking out. The other young man raised his hand up, and they joined him at the table.


"I'm guessing," the young man said, lifting a drink to his lips, "That it didn't go well then?"

"What gave it away," RItsuka asked, rubbing the back of his head, "The lack of a pirate with us, that Jeannette just stormed off, or the general disposition of it all?"

"The second really," Baelon answered, "She…," he paused as he looked at Ritsuka, "She doesn't usually break away from you if she can help it. If she was that mad, something must have gone wrong," he then pointed at RItsuka's face, "You all aren't good at hiding things."

"Good enough to sneak into that wedding," Ritsuka grumbled. Before Baelon could say something else, he then continued, "We'll figure something out, but how did your end go?"

"Oh, Mother and Rhaenys," it still sounded somewhat strained when he said his sister's true name, but he was doing better with it, "We found a store with some dyes, they are actually working on getting her hair ready right now," he then reached down, and pulled up from a bag at the side of his chair a colorful green fabric, "We found some other stuff too, like these pieces of cloth, and these," he lifted up what appeared to be a man's face with a massive frown upon it, "These might be useful if we have to be mummers in the near future."

"Not bad," Ritsuka's frown shrunk, grabbing the mask, "This is really good stuff. We can probably work on building up our cover story once we manage to get Cu away from those guys and I can work on finding another plan for," he looked around, "Um…anyone seen Cu? Or Xuanzang or Colan?"

"The inn keeper said those three and the Stormmen," Bealon rather visibly suppressed a shudder at the mention of them, "They went out into the city for the day."

"You're joking," RItsuka grumbled while Emiya slapped his forehead.

"No," Baelon admitted, "The inn keeper said this place ran out of drink this morning, and that the next shipment will come in before supper tonight," he groaned, "so the idiot decided to take those men on a grand tour of some more of the inn and winesaks along Ragman's harbor," the dark skinned boy sighed, "I wouldn't be surprised if they all don't return by nightfall."

"I thought he was going to try and ditch them," Ritsuka groaned.

"That was the plan," Baelon admitted, "Though we learned after you left that they actually are renting the room above us," Nitocris remembered that they had been unable to get the top floor due to it being already rented, "So that only makes it more important that Mother get Rhaenys's hair nice and black."

"Damnit," RItsuka rubbed his chin, "So they are actually staying here too? Would have thought that they would be staying on their ship," he grumbled.

"They all did seem to be rather young," Emiya offered, "I wouldn't be surprised if they are using that room up there to allow them to escape the wandering eye of their superiors," he sighed, "And considering they are supposed to be talking with the Sealord, they probably don't have as much oversight as they normally do."

"Sealord," Ritsuka stopped. Nitocris turned her head to the young man, and watched as the gears inside his head were beginning to turn, "Isn't Lizabet Antaryon the daughter of the current Sealord?"

"Yes," NItocris said. She'd noted that when they'd been taking in as much information about Drake as they could. Honestly, it matched her history as Queen Elizabeth quite well, "She is supposedly his only daughter. From what we heard, most of the only reasons that she's able to act as a pirate with such impunity is that she is his only child."

"Hmmm," Ritsuka looked down at the table, "There is something there…"

"Ritsuka?"

"Nothing yet, but I'll think of something to do to get Drake back on board," RItsuka wasn't smiling, but his face was flat, which considering his mood before this, was a noted improvement, "Though…how am I going to get the Sealo-never mind, I'm sure I'll come up with something," he grumbled, "Though I think I'll have to wait for all those guys to get back. Might need to get introduced their commander or whatever if this is going to work," he smiled, "But with all of us working together, I'm sure we'll be ab-"

"Ritsuka," Emiya spoke up, and the disappointment on the younger man's face was obvious.

"Right," he said, "You have to go to that island of the gods this evening," after the encounter in Emiya's room last night, Nitocris and Emiya had gone to Ritsuka, and told them about what they had encountered. Ritsuka had been frustrated by finding out that two more of his servants were about to go off on their own adventure, but he had come to accept it by this point. Still, Ritsuka could not help but sigh as he said, "yet another freaking thing to have to deal with."

"Always something," Nitocris could not help bu agree.

"Actually," Ritsuka spoke up, "Nitocris, whoever this guy is, he's clearly trying to get Emiya on his own," Nitocris nodded, "I think it would be good if you went with him. I don't want him to be isolated and jumped by whoever sent it out," he smiled, "Your magic should be strong enough to pull him out of any kind of stupid thing he finds himself."

"Oh ha, ha," Emiya fake laughed, before looking at Ritsuka, and firing back, "You know I can handle myself, don't you?"

"I will be there," Nitocris added. Emiya scowled at her for a moment, before sighing and nodding. Part of NItocris wanted them to go in full force, or at least as much as they could muster at the moment. But with everyone besides her busy, she was basically the only one would could really cover Emiya's back at the moment. Sure, she'd rather go and lay down for a bit, but she could handle working with Emiya for a while.

"Good," Ritsuka smiled, "Now, how about we order some food," he rubbed his hands together, "I'm pretty sure we need to make sure you guys have full stomachs before you both go out on your own."


It was getting close to dusk, and Nitocris was already getting tired of having to cut and wave through the streets of Braavos. It had only been two, really one and a half, days in this place, and the constant flow of human traffic had been enough to drive her crazy. As both a pharaoh and a member of the Great Master's she hadn't been forced to deal with walking among common folk. Now though…

"If I ever have to twist to dodge a pickpocket again," she whispered to Emiya as she moved her hip slightly, causing one man of that profession to miss her, "I will rip my hair out," as the thief tried to readjust for another go, she hopped slightly, jumping in front of Emiya.

"I feel," Emiya said, a bit louder, "that if you are having to deal with sticky fingers," he grunted, and out of the corner of her eye, Niticris saw Emiya's rather large hand wrapped around a much smaller wrist, "That the way to unstick them, is to cut them off," he raised his black blade up above his head, and then turned his head, "What do you think stranger."

"Uh-u," she could hear the confused stammer of the pickpocket, "I…that is."

"Well, since there isn't a pickpocket here," Emiya let the man go, and Nitocris watched as the man backed off slightly. His face was covered in dirt and dust, and was unusually thin, yet besides those two things, he looked like the average man of Braavos. After waiting a second, the pickpocket turned, and then ran into a small crowd of people, disappearing from view. Emiya stared at the crowd, and sighed, "We must be getting closer, if they are sending people like that to check us out."

"Certainly seems like it," Nitocris couldn't help but agree that the pickpocket hadn't been a pickpocket at all. True, he had made the move of one, but he'd been too quick to try and move to Emiya, certainly considering that anyone able to dodge that move would have to be too dangerous to really attempt a second time, "Especially considering exactly where we are headed at the moment."

"The white and black doors," Emiya repeated, his eyes traveling to the bridge leading from to a set of much smaller islands. Those islands, however, contained much larger buildings, including their destination. The House of Black and White. It had taken a bit of coin to the innkeeper, but they'd managed to find out that this was a temple on a chain of islands that had many many temples to many many gods. That had been simple enough, but Emiya had managed to get just a bit more from him…

That the worshippers of this god were a league of assassins. The legendary Faceless Men.

'Somehow, I keep ending up having to deal with groups of people like this,' Nitocris inwardly growled. Quite frankly, she was tired of being surrounded by hundreds of killers that might, at the drop of a hat, stab her in the back. Or even men who might stab her in the front. It was all the same to her really.

"So you have managed to meet a Faceless Man before?" she asked, as they managed to make their way up the tall bridge that lead to the first temple Island. As she took in the seven sided temple of the Andals, she added, "And that you actually managed to kill one."

"Put Kanshou through his gut," Emiya said flatly, "Saw him slump to the deck of the ship, and everyone else decided to jump ship," he frowned, "Except for that slaver that Cu used Gae Bolg on, he didn't really get a choice."

The word "Slaver" hung in the air. Nitocris had been forced to live with that title for a while. Part of her, the legend of her, would probably never quite be able to overcome how naturally the practice was to her. True, the Throne of Heroes was able to assist her in overcoming her natural inclination, but it still felt unnatural to her. Her Egyptian legend was only reinforced by her three decades in Mereen, and only really undermined by the terror she had felt as Grazdan the Great's doll.

But that natural inclination had meant she was somehow at odds with both Cu and Jeanne Alter, and yet oddly enough it was the former who she had a worse relationship with. For the latter, well, she'd always seen using slavery for sex as something of a taboo, a clear overstepping of the contract between master and servant. Her clear pity for the other woman had mostly rubbed away any obvious bad feelings.

Cu though…it was different. Again, sex had been a driving force, so she was completely on Cu's side in taking Colan away from that. Contracts had been broken, so his mother's master had clearly failed. Yet Cu could not look at her now without growling, and it had only been getting worse over the months. Perhaps the longer they had been together, the less Cu was able to ignore this sort of culture clash.

"Well hopefully they aren't about to chat about that," Nitocris shook her head, she had more important things to worry about than considering those relationships. She looked up, and realized they were already past the great seven sided building, and were on another tall bridge, "Did I just go into my own head for a bit there?"

"You need to pay attention more," Emiya chuckled, and Nitocris felt her cheeks blush, "Certainly considering what these men are capable of."

"Right," Nitocris had heard rumors from her time in Mereen. Of murder, of Masters suddenly dying from strange poisons or from ropes of silk or of knives in the belly. That men would rip the faces off of men, and then wear them, becoming them. She blinked at that, and then asked, "Are you sure that Cu said he looked like you?"

"I know he looked like me," Emiya grumbled, "I was on the boat, he had my face, my hair," he grumbled, "Really, seemed to live up to the hype when I got a good look at his disguise. Only reason Cu caught on was because he," Emiya paused, took in a breath through his nose, and finished, "Didn't react like I would to an insult."

"Strange," Nitocris sighed, "Everything I've heard is they are able to mimic someone perfectly, certainly when they have the same face," she shook her head, "All curiouser."

"Well, wouldn't be a league of assassins if there wasn't this sort of bullshit to deal with," Emiya said, as they came down on the other side of the bridge, and walked past a smaller temple until they were along the end of the island and a small channel that lead to a disconnected island.

On that island was a craggy hill, which had a short but steep set of stairs that lead up to a round building. And at the front of that round building, was a pair of doors, one black and one white. Perhaps ebony and ivory, Nitocris thought. There was a moon carved in the opposite color on both doors. No windows or places for light, only dead, gray stone. Nitocris looked over at Emiya who was eyeing the black and white doors, the symbols and colors mixing. He crunched his hands together, before relaxing them, and sighing, before asking, "We got like fifteen minutes before twilight, see anybody around us?"

"No."

That was all they needed. In a flash, they both jumped across the water onto the steps. They looked back, and Nitocris didn't see anyone that might have seen them do that. She looked over at Emiya, who nodded and then turned to walk up the stairs. Nitocris followed, keeping her eyes peeled for their target or whoever might be watching them.

"So," Nitocris thought for a minute, "How are you doing?"

"About as well as I can when we are about to probably walk into a trap," Emiya said offhandedly, "Though that's not what you are really asking about, is it?"

"You know what I really mean," she seethed, "I mean, earlier today…"

"Drake was clearly trying to get under my skin," Emiya said flatly, "That she succeeded as much as she did is something I'm going to have to try and get a hold of. Still, I'm not the one who got hit hardest by it."

"Jeanne Alter," Nitocris could remember the fury in the witch's words, "Gods, to have all that shoved in your face so gleefully," she sighed, "I can't imagine it's going to be easy to get her to forgive Drake if we do somehow manage to get her to rejoin Chaldea."

"She will," Emiya stated, while continuing up the stairs.

"I think you might be underestimating how much she doesn't want to," Nitocris returned, "I would agree that by every right we should be able to get her back easily," she then let out a small growl, as she felt her jackal ears stand on end, "But we can't, because our Master won't use his command seals."

"Master expl-"

"And you explained why he was using that as an excuse," Emiya could only give a curt nod to her words, "He doesn't like using his command seals, he wants to feel like we're all his friends, rather than his weapons," she shook her head, "Then you add how he almost always puts himself in the middle of every dangerous situation, doesn't delegate tasks well," she rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Do you ever wish that he was a bit more typical of a master?"

"...no," Emiya said flatly, "No…"

"But you yourself have said he lets his morals get in the way of his mission," Nitocris added, "Considering how everyone says you hate your own stubborn heroism as a young man his age, I'm surprised you go along with him so often."

"Ritsuka Fujimaru is not Emiya Shirou," Emiya said flatly, the use of his own name as though it was another person somehow managing to ever so slightly tick off Nitocris for its pretension, "And whatever similarities between the two there are," he paused, and then thought, "Well for one thing, I can guarantee you Shirou would have used his command seals on Drake this morning."

"Really?" Nitocris looked over at Emiya, and could see no lie on his face, "That…surprises me."

"It shouldn't," Emiya said. Nitocris almost wanted to push a bit more, but decided against that. She had heard enough of Cu's teasing to know that Emiya's past was something he really would rather forget about. Instead, the two took up positions on the final set of steps before the great opposite doors, and then waited as the sun began to dip into the west.

Just as the sun fell beneath the pines of the shield islands, an audible crack came from the door. Slowly, ponderously, the doors began to open inward, the moon being cut in half, revealing a great chamber of darkness. Emiya looked over at Nitocris, and she looked back. Finally, he sighed, called out Kanshou and Bakuya, and led the way.

"Keep your eye out," he said, just as he went between the doors, "This could turn into a trap at an-"

And then, instantly, the door shut behind him, right in Nitocris's face.

"Oh come on!" she screamed, sending a shot of magic directly into the Black and White doors, though the magic dissipated harmlessly when it collided with the surface. The doors should not have been able to close that quickly, certainly not with how long it took for them to open even slightly. She ran to the door, and tried her hardest to push, but she couldn't feel anything give way. She let out another scream, "EMIYA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yeah," his voice was surprisingly calm from the other side. Nitocris let out a short breath of relief, before he continued, "It's completely dark in here, the door isn't letting in any light," he then mumbled a bit, "I am the bone," and then he stopped his chant, "Dyrnwyn should be enough to light my way for a bit. I'll see what I can do from this side, you stay there, and wait, I should be out soon."

"Okay," she said, stepping bac-

And then she felt her body freeze. She could not move a single muscle in her body. She managed to move her eyes down, and saw a glowing circle beneath her feet. She could feel the sweat run down the back of her head, as she tried to figure out exactly what had gone wrong. As she did so, she heard Emiya slowly step away from the door, and begin exploring. She couldn't call out to him, she couldn't even open her mouth, so she would just have to wait to see if he ever came back out.

"My dear Pharoah," a familiar voice came from behind her, and her blood began to grow cold, "It is been quite a time since I've last been able to see you," she then felt his hand rub along the small of her back, "And, I dare say I've never been able to touch you."

And then, Mairu, Grazdan's puppet magician, walked in to her view, a crow with one eye staring directly at her atop his shoulder. He smiled wickedly at her, "It seems that my plan, is moving quite well," he placed ran his fingers through her hair, and she felt like screaming, "Though, as we move to our next stage, you and I have some catching up to do."