Not-yet-summer resort: X

This had not been her intention, at least initially, but the moment she had been spotted she knew it would be impossible for her to avoid them. Rather, it would have been impossible for her to even consider doing something such as that in the first place.

"Tch."

A click of the tongue from her left, she stayed silent and merely let the annoyance play out.

"Why did we become saddled with such lousy seating? Surely there should have been some effort to accommodate us. It is not every day that a Goddess graces such a measly performance such as this."

A response to the complaint was delivered by a similar voice.

"Now, now, me. Let's not be so hasty in delivering judgement, I would say that despite being something fashioned by some mortals on the spot, it was hardly an amateur show…Fufufu~ I would say that it was certainly a memorable one."

That laughter gave Medusa pause, her eyes moved down behind her visor and towards the direction of her older sister. Sure enough, the glint in their eyes was present and it meant that there would only be trouble in the future. Not that she voiced such a thought aloud, she would never have done something like that.

"Oh?~" Stheno raised a brow, leaning across and matching the smile worn by Euryale, though there was a touch more intrigue about it. "Perhaps you have some manner of plan, me? Would you be kind enough to share, I would be rather delighted in hearing it."

Euryale didn't wait long in revealing it.

"That white haired human woman in the centre, she's quite different when she is around Chaldea, is she not?" The words hung in the air, Medusa inwardly tensed and sent a small pang of sympathy towards the woman who had managed to earn the attention of her sisters, it was something that one did not easily endure.

"That she is…" Stheno hummed, bringing up a delicate hand and rubbing away at her chin. "I suppose that whatever this Singularity is doing, it has made her a touch more confident…but when she returns, don't you think it would be rather likely that her confidence here would be left behind?"

"Well…that is what is to be expected." A wave of the hand from Euryale, soon followed by another mischievous giggle. "Still, I must say, whomever this Deity is, I am rather inclined to offer them a token amount of praise, they have certainly provided us with some measure of amusement - even into the future - haven't they, me?"

"Quite so, myself…However, that they haven't made pains to accommodate us is rather vexing." Her sister gestured towards her, she kept herself still as they both turned with the same look in their eyes. "It is as though they made this entire land while catering to giants, but then I suppose you must be very thankful for that, Medusaless. What is it like being amongst others like yourself?"

She debated whether it was better to reply or keep silent.

"You're not getting nervous now, are you?" Euryale swiftly caught onto her hesitation and narrowed her eyes, placing her hands upon her hips. "Come now, surely you must be thrilled…or is it that you're now feeling as though you might end up forgetting all about us now that you're with the other giants-"

"That is not-" She blurted out, then caught herself at the last moment, taking in a deep breath before she restarted. "I would never forget either of you, sisters."

A scoff from Stheno and a wave of the hand, for a moment she thought she might have answered incorrectly, but the smug look which came upon her sister was a relief, despite the words that followed. "Of course you would never forget us, you need to have some measure of what true beauty is after all, don't you?"

"Being. Tall. Bad?"

Three gentle words, Medusa would privately admit that she had never seen such a blatant look of panic fly across the face of Euryale before in her life. Though it was less obvious than if it were upon a human, the widening of her eyes and the parting of their lips was all but announcing she was shocked.

Euryale turned to the speaker and raised a brow, finding her ground once more. "Don't start on that, Asterios. Have I ever once made a complaint about your height before?" bringing her arm about, she pointed up to the face of the Servant. "If it was such a problem, why then would I go out of my way to make use of your height, hmmmm?"

Asterios opened his mouth, then closed it, his brows pinched and his lip curled down. She caught a flash as he glanced at her for a split second and then back down to Euryale, tilting his head in a small display of confusion. "But. Talk. Bad. About. Medusa. Height."

As if to prove his point, he straightened himself out and soon towered over them all, bringing up a large arm and then holding it across, his palm soon hovered above her head and then was dragged back until it touched his own body, demonstrating the height difference between the two of them.

"Me. Taller."

Euryale briefly looked at a loss for words, her jaw closed up tight and then she briefly looked around before she closed her eyes and exhaled. "Oh, Asterios. You truly say the silliest of things sometimes. It is quite alright for you to be as tall as you are, the problem with Medusa is that she is the youngest."

"Of course." Stheno supported a moment later, but she knew that they could have acted sooner, the little glint in their eyes told her that she had been enjoying the display a little too much. "What manner of younger sibling is taller than the elder one? Does that seem a little odd to you? After all…they are called 'little sisters' for a good reason."

The confusion slowly faded from the face of the Berserker, they made a small noise and nodded their head up and down. "I. See. Then. Medusa. Big. Sister."

"Yes." Stheno nodded her head approvingly, then turned to her with a rather sharp smile. "She is indeed a very big sister. The problem is that she is much too big."

"Much too big." Euryale parroted with a shake of the head. "Honestly, all the trouble you can get into…what are you thinking, getting as big as you are, Medusa?" a nod of the head in the direction of Asterios and a roll of the eyes. "Are you going to keep going until you stand taller than him?"

She hoped not.

The only reason she would end up like that…

No, it was not the time to consider thoughts such as this.

Or perhaps it was because of the recent developments that her mind was beginning to wander in that direction, it was not as though she could not assume who the Servant was but she would prefer to ignore them altogether. If they were who she suspected them to be then…

Something tickled at the edge of her senses.

Her posture went rigid, her hands clenched tight and she could feel her weapons hover just above her hands. The urge to summon them the moment the sensation reached her was difficult to ignore, but she held it back purely because it was a slow and steady approach.

They wanted her to know they were coming.

A turn of her head in the direction of the sensation, her ears focused on the growing sound of heeled boots upon cobblestone, it cut through all other sounds with ease. Even the mutters and conversations of the Servants around her fell to the wayside as she devoted all her attention to the noise.

"-think you can start ignoring me now, Medusaless?" She froze as she realised what was happening, what was about to happen.

She needed to get away from her sisters before-

Her attempt at an escape was cut off in the second she moved, Stheno moved in front of her and placed her hands on her hips, an unimpressed look on their face which rooted her to the spot. They clearly misunderstood what it was she was trying to do, yet she could not tell them. Her tongue turned to lead in her mouth, her jaw clenched as her attention drifted away from them.

She could not yet see them, but she could feel their presence like the heat of an approaching flame.

"Has Chaldea turned you into some sort of delinquent, Medusa?" Stheno inquired with a raised brow, a nagging suspicion on their face. "Or maybe you're trying to take a leaf out of the book of Gwyndolin and go your own way apart from us? I must say, I would hope not. You could do with much finer role models than-"

"It is not that, sisters." She hastily cut her off, taking another step to move around onto to find that her way was now blocked by Euryale, a matching look upon her own features to that of Stheno's. "I…It is merely that I have been separated from my Master for too long and if I do not return, they might become concerned and seek me out-"

"So?" A light scoff. "You've seen the sort of meatheaded thugs that they can surround themselves with at the snap of a finger. I'm all but certain that they could be convinced to spare you for a single day…" they trailed off, eyes narrowing on the pair of them.

Euryale picked up where Stheno left off.

"Unless, maybe, you would rather prefer to be around Master than either of us…" An odd twinkle entered their eye and she was now all but certain they were really reading the situation wrong. "Is that what this is, Medusa? Are you getting anxious that you can't get close to your little companion…I must say, I'm surprised at you! I didn't think you could be so nervous when separated from…what are they, a pet?"

"That is not-"

Her words caught like a lump in her throat.

Snapping her attention upwards, right above the heads of her sisters, she watched the Servants part as a figure walked right through the middle of them and approached her without slowing their pace, a purpose in their strides.

Each clack of the heel drummed through her head like a hammer upon nails.

Medusa straightened herself, turning her expression to ice and keeping her arms by her side.

A flash of confusion on the faces of her sisters, then they turned around and stared.

The Servant slowed their pace for the first time, immediately upon catching sight of her sisters, and then stopped moving completely, falling into a comfortable distance from them of at least a couple metres.

"...What is this supposed to be?" The disbelief in the voice of Euryale made tense, the Saber Servant remained silent as her sister brought up an arm and waved it towards them. "I was only joking when I alluded to the possibility of finding your people Medusaless but this? This is…What on earth are you supposed to be?"

The Servant, Chris, spared only a single glance to the Goddess from behind their sunglasses and then directed their full attention onto her.

"Your Master has become anxious that you have not returned and asked me to search for you and your other missing companions. The others have already been discovered, you are the last-"

"A touch rude not to reply to a question, isn't it?"

Medusa turned her attention to the back of Stheno's head as they addressed Chris, not losing a single ounce of confidence and even sounding somewhat irritated, though still intrigued.

"Now then, might you introduce yourself? Given that you have gone out of your way to look like Medusa…" They brought their hand up, placing it on their cheek and leaning into the touch, a frown audible in their words. "Though quite why you would do something so ludicrous in the first place is astonishing to me…of all the people you could have copied and you went with her?"

"...I do not see a reason to answer your questions."

"Don't you?" Euryale spoke up next, taking a single step forwards. "And what if I say that there is a good reason for it…I know Medusa, and as convincing as this little dress up of yours is, I can say with absolute certainty that you are no Medusa."

"I have never claimed to be-"

"But you seem to be fine walking around looking like her, no accounting for taste, but it is just astounding to me." Stheno cut them off with a light sigh, then they abruptly paused. A different tone entered their words. "Do you know who you are truly walking around looking like? Do you understand their full history…or did you just decide to make up this shape because you thought it would look nice."

"Because there is already one Medusaless in this world and I find myself unwilling to tolerate another. Especially if they are only acting this way for such a flimsy reason." Euryale made a rather displeased sound in the back of her throat, Medusa diverted her focus to the silent Servant, having not moved a single inch.

Chris tightened their posture, shooting up straight.

"Flimsy."

The word was more like a growl, she could see them starting to coil their body.

"I know exactly whose face this is. It is mine. Just as much as it is hers." They nodded their head towards her, though their eyes never parted from her sisters. "And do not presume that your status might protect you…I will not be insulted lightly-"

"Hurting. Euryale. Bad."

They paused at the growl, Medusa heard the heavy footfalls of Asterios as the Berserker moved around her, lowering a thick arm in front of the two Goddesses before he paused, then tilted his head and made a small noise of confusion, she caught the flicker in his eyes as he stared down at the Servant.

"Wait."

A loud sniff from the Berserker.

"You. Smell. Odd. Smell. Li-"

"Your Master waits for you near the pirate ship. He and the others have made preparations for an engagement. Go. Now."

They turned about face, pressing their legs down and then shooting off into the air with a single powerful leap, the stone cracked with their takeoff and they were gone before anything else could be said.

But they provided her with something useful.

An escape.

"Master needs me, I must go sisters."

They didn't respond to her words for a moment, perhaps because they didn't quite comprehend them for a few seconds and she used those few seconds for all they were ultimately worth.

By the time they whipped around to face her, she was already moving.

"Wha-come back here Medusa! Medusa! Don't you dare run away when I'm speaking to you! Medusa!"

Their shouts faded into the background as she moved away, throwing herself to the skyline and sensing the general direction where her Master was, turning herself with the wind and moving off in that direction.

It was them.

She didn't know how it was them.

She didn't know why they looked like that or how they looked like that.

But she knew exactly who it was.

The question…the question was why?

…And why now?

Meeting the rather incensed gaze from the person directly in front of him was one of the hardest things he had managed to do. If only because of the level of guilt and shame that they seemed to instil within him, there was just something about the glare which resonated deep within him.

His eyes instead moved to the space directly to the right of them, where Solaire was stood with Gareth in tow. The Lancer fidgeted on the spot with a somewhat abashed look upon her face, understandable given that Solaire had told him that she had been found messing around with both Verndari and Sanura.

Not that he was particularly bothered about that, she'd spotted them in the crowd and had claimed she'd gotten a little overexcited and went to meet with them and forgot about letting him know where she was going. Fair enough, he wasn't bothered about that.

Well, he was bothered but he was able to let it go.

Atalanta glaring bloody murder at him while Ash was holding her wrist literally looking like a lost child didn't set off the same level of easy going concern within him and he was left with the impression that a little more had happened than just wandering off.

The complete and total lack of dialogue from her thus far was more terrifying than if she had been shouting.

And they still hadn't found Mash ye-

"Senpai!"

A voice, his head whipped around in that direction and his brows shot upwards, then he double taked at the sight that was before him. His arms dropped down to his side and his raised brows fell down, pinching together.

It was indeed Mash.

And rather than being clad in her usual armour, she was instead wearing a short summer dress, pure white with a magenta lining around the edge and a matching ribbon on the front. Sporting upon her face was a look of relief as, in both hands, she carried large carrier bags of something.

"I'm so glad I found you! I got worried when I couldn't see you near the rides or the shops but then I realised that you might have been near the performance-"

She cut herself off, her brows shot upwards. "Ah, did you see it as well, Senpai? I didn't know the Director was that good at singing…it was actually a big surprise to me but I thought it was really wonderful! She looked like she was having a lot of fun!"

His eyes still lingered on the swimsuit she was wearing, then moved up towards her face, trying and failing to get a word out. It seemed almost bewildering that Mash had run away for about ten or so minutes and then came back with…

Leaning forwards, he stared at the contents of the bag.

"...Are those ice creams?"

"Yes!" Mash beamed at his words, looking rather proud of herself for a moment, then she paused and cleared her throat. "I-I mean yes, that is right, Senpai. I've read that it is normal for ice creams to be eaten in places like this and it would have been difficult for me to move enough fast food for everyone to have some…So I got ice cream."

"Ahem."

The clearing of a throat had him wince a bit, his eyes turned and saw the glare of Atalanta still upon him. With an internal sigh, he turned himself to face her and took in a deep breath. He could ask Mash later about where she went, this was something that needed to be addressed right now.

"...Thanks for finding-"

"Do you have even the slightest notion of what your actions could have led to if I was not as observant as I am?"

Her words were delivered without a trace of emotion and yet held the fury of a storm, his jaw snapped shut as she looked at him, he could see the challenge for him to offer any sort of reply.

"...I can guess-"

"You cannot because you do not know the danger." She growled, he saw her grip on Ash's hand tightened a little and pull him slightly closer to her. All the more worrying that the Saber offered not even an ounce of resistance. "This is not a land where you can afford to let your guard down and others' delights are far from civilised…As both a Master and as a guardian, you should know better. You should be better."

He flinched, then looked down.

"I found him consorting with drunks." A faint growl of disgust entered her voice as she brought up the Servant in question, he paused and looked back towards her, his question died off as she continued. "And then he himself informed me that he had inadvertently stumbled upon our resident Lancer."

"Hey, he can still protect himself-"

"Is that an excuse?" Atalanta whipped her head onto Gareth and all but hissed the words at her, the Lancer jolted at the aggression before their gaze hardened, meeting the glare of the Archer with a stern look of her own. "Servant or not, that is no reason to let them walk the lands unattended. Even without physical threats, there are the risks of bad influences as well…or are you going to say he is safe from those as well?"

Gareth opened her mouth, then paused and closed it again, a slightly puzzled look moved across her face. "Well-I…bad influences…" they muttered quietly, bringing up a hand and rubbing at her chin.

"Alright." Boudica stepped forwards, the eyes of Atalanta fell on her and she met them without blinking. "I am the responsible adult here, Master doesn't have anywhere close to the same level of experience as I do and I was the one who did not immediately make efforts to search for him. It is my fault that he was put into that position."

No, that wasn't right.

He was the Master here so it should have been his responsibility-

"Now, now. Let us allow cooler heads to prevail before we say something unkind to one another."

Ritsuka felt his eyes shrink into pinpricks at the appealing voice.

Then they widened in panic as he turned on Ash, as expected the moment the voice had emerged he had instantly turned onto it. Even with his helmet down, the urgency of the boy was apparent and it couldn't be mistaken for anything other than excitement from the way they rocked on their heels.

Slowly, his head turned to the voice as the Servant approached from the same direction Mash had come from.

The easy going smile on her face never wavered as she moved closer and closer, waving her hands down as she did so.

"We can all say that there is no true blame to be levelled here. Crowded locations such as these require an experienced eye to ensure none are lost and…" Gwynevere turned on him, a flash of something as she looked him up and down, an almost indulgent look, then she turned back on Atalanta. "We can both agree that he is likely not as experienced in the matter of child care as others."

The Goddess brought up a hand, forestalling Atalanta before she could get a word out.

"And we can never truly predict the dangers of this land. This young child was a grown man before he came here…you cannot expect this one to so quickly shift his expectations for them in such a short span of time. Gawyn has always given the impression of being a stalwart and reliable young fighter, perhaps some of his confidence was too infectious for this young human."

Atalanta narrowed her eyes, then opened her mouth to speak, only to pause and look down at Ash, the boy having given a small tug on her wrist. She briefly glanced between all of them and then back down towards him, crouching down near him as he spoke something, a whisper which seemingly had an effect on the Archer.

Her face twisted with discomfort for a moment before she exhaled, pulling her head away and giving them a strange look for a second, but it soon vanished. She stood back up and turned her gaze onto him, expression blank.

"...In light of recent events, I can understand that this is a result of your own inexperience and though I can still demand that you improve," A pointed look was shot in at Boudica for a split second, then it returned to him and softened only a little. But at least it wasn't filled with the same anger as before. "I can understand that this is a new experience for you and it is hardly the best location for a first time guardian…with that said, I will keep my eyes on you from a distance."

Ritsuka saw this for what it was.

She was giving him a chance to be better.

"I'm not letting him out my sight again."

The words hadn't come out of Ritsuka.

They came out of the mouth of Gawyn instead, and they were directed towards Gwynevere. Almost as though he was making her a promise.

It felt sour to him.

And the smile Gwynevere wore on her face at the declaration was equally sickening.

Of all the people…

Atalanta rolled her eyes at the declaration of the Saber as though it was somehow amusing to her, sending an indulgent look at him as she brought her free hand around and patted at the top of his head. "I believe you've stolen the words right out of someone else's mouth, but as long as they understand, then I will grant them the benefit of the doubt."

She brought her head up, then nodded to Gwynevere almost respectfully. "Lady Goddess."

Her retreat from them was slow, eyes darting between Gawyn and himself for a few more moments before she turned. Only stopping at the sound of her colleague making their own presence known.

Solaire cleared his throat, clapping his hands together. "I should take after her, though I will say that she is rather protective of children…do not take her anger personally, she means well enough."

Ritsuka shook his head at the Servant. "No, she's right on that part. Even if it's peaceful, it's still a Singularity for me…letting my guard down like that and losing track of people was pretty silly."

"If you say so." A shrug of the shoulders from Solaire, then the man smiled at them. "Lancer has asked for me to meet with him to discuss something important, apparently it includes Pharros as well but I'm sure it will be nothing. I'll see you all later then."

Ritsuka noted the way Atalanta's face soured at the mention of the Lancer, shaking her head and releasing a noise of disgust before she departed into spirit form, fading away into nothing and presumably moving off from them.

Solaire watched her depart and glanced at him from the corner of their eye. "She and Lancer are not on amicable terms."

It was all the explanation he provided.

And then Solaire too vanished into spirit form.

The smile on Ritsuka's face dropped faster than lead into water, he turned his eyes onto Gwynevere.

"Hanleth is another of yours."

Gwynevere gave a light hum. "Yes, she is. Her authority was one of bliss…though she extended it a little to herself as well but there was an innocence about her. Everything must rest after working was her mentality."

The eyes of the Goddess flickered towards him for barely a moment, then turned away. "She often took that to the extreme, however, so if you are to deal with her in the future, then I would offer a little warning about that. I would almost say she was allergic to work…"

With a gentle breath, the smile returned to the face of the Goddess. "Well, I shall make my departure from here. I am well aware that my presence would only cause you to lose sight of certain matters and I doubt I would be welcome company for you at this time…" she trailed off, her eyes turned and fell upon Gawyn. "...I almost forgot how small you were when you were younger."

"I promise you, Mother. I will not let Master Ritsuka from my sight again." Gawyn slammed a fist into their chest. "This I swear. I will make you both proud."

"...So long as you try your absolute hardest, then I know you will find peace."

And with those simple words, she turned on her heel and started to walk away.

It was actually jarring to him how simple it was.

She just left.

"...That was…I felt so on edge…" Gawyn slumped like all the energy had flooded out of their body, bringing their hands up and placing them upon their head. "I wasn't expecting mother to suddenly show up and…I didn't make a fool of myself in front of her, did I?"

"...No."

"That's a relief." Gawyn declared with a nod of the head, moving their hand up and flipping the visor of their helmet up as they did so, a rather wide smile on their lips. "I'm actually very pleased I got the chance to see her again! It feels revitalising for me! Now that I know she believes in me…Don't worry, Master Ritsuka! I won't get caught out like that again! You can rest easy knowing that I'm going to protect your smiles!"

Wel, that was certainly a loud declaration but-

He paused, his brows pinched tighter than before.

"Protect our smiles?"

"Absolutely!"

"Well…thanks?"

"You're welcome! I can't not after that performance from Lady Animusphere! I feel as though she has filled me with energy-" A pause, then their expression twisted into one of thoughtfulness. "Wait, I have heard of this before…is it possible that she is my Firekeeper? Maybe that is why I feel so powerful…"

Ritsuka was absolutely certain that something was getting lost in translation along the way because he was rather sure of himself when he thought that the Director really wasn't a Firekeeper.

But whatever made Ash comfortable, he supposed.

"Ah, speaking of which, Master Ritsuka!" He blinked, Gawyn faced him with the thoughtfulness gone and replaced instead with one of excitement, "I have seen that there is some manner of siege training that is going on by the water castle behind us."

They pointed to the distance, following their line arm until he found himself staring at a rather cliche looking castle. One that eerily reminded him of the sort of thing he would have seen at the start of a disney movie or something.

Tall box shaped walls, a spire in the centre of it with a coned top with the only visible entrance being a curved gateway and nothing else. Though what really caught his eyes were the fact that there was a sloping hill which led to the small castle and it currently appeared to be in the midst of some manner of battle, just as Gawyn said.

Though if he squinted hard enough, it looked as though they were chucking mutli-coloured balls which exploded on contact and released water at whomever was struck.

He gradually turned back to Gawyn and cocked an eyebrow at the Saber, their expression wilted in the silence before they cleared their throat and lowered their arm. "B-but, it is your choice, Master Ritsuka. I believe it would be very worthwhile training…And they seem to be enjoying themselves."

The latter part was added almost as an afterthought.

A thud next to him, he turned his head and found Medusa standing right there, acting as though she had never been anywhere else.

"I was told you were involved in an altercation, Master."

He slowly blinked at her words, then made a small noise of affirmation. "Wouldn't call it that but there was a bit of a confrontation. It's all sorted out now, though…as for what we're going to be doing next…"

Well.

There was only one real way to answer that.

"I tell you something, I do not envy Elron right now."

Romani could say he wholeheartedly agreed with the comment though he wasn't going to say that out loud. That being said, even after it had ended - and through the encore song of 'Mr Blue Sky' - it could very easily be said that this was going to be the most memorable Singularity in Chaldea.

And also definitive proof that there was indeed something altering the minds of the people in the Singularity.

Fujimaru had seemed a little too laid back so far, but he had choked it down to them just not seeing a need to be so urgent. At least at first.

Now though?

Now, he wasn't so sure.

"Authority over Bliss…" He caught the muttered comment under the breath of Da Vinci, a glance showed that the brunette was leaning back into a chair while rolling a pen between her fingers, a gaze in her eyes that was a million miles away. "Bliss…"

The pen stopped, her eyes positively glowed.

"That's it!"

Silence spread through the command room immediately after the shout, Da Vinci threw herself to her feet and turned to face him, grinning from ear to ear. "She's the Goddess of Bliss and she's using the Holy Grail! This entirely Singularity is just a resort to make you calm down."

"...Yes?"

Didn't they already know this?

The excitement was replaced with a roll of the eyes. "No, Romani. It makes you calm down."

He didn't understand for a moment, then his brows shot up. "The field that Medusa spoke about! It's making everyone act less serious than they would normally! They aren't as concerned!"

"Subtle hypnosis." Maxwell declared from across the room, the man rising up from his own seat and turning towards their direction. "True, that would explain the shift in the Director's personality, but why then, do we not have Fujimaru currently singing and dancing along with her?"

"Maybe he has some sort of protection from Mash?" Meuniere replied to them before anyone else could. "Or from any of the other Servants, heck, he might even have something from one of the Gods we've got in Chaldea at the moment. They're contracted to him in a way that the Director isn't with her own Servants."

"And that explains our scan readings." Da Vinci carried on with a wave of her hand. "The Singularity is making us unable to complete the scans because her authority is affecting our equipment. It is physically unwilling to continue the effort of scanning the Singularity. Thus, it takes a break before it finishes and then ends the process."

Romani double taked.

That seemed like a stretch.

"Are you saying that the Goddess is making our computers lazy?"

"Our computers have already demonstrated themselves to be susceptible to the influence of Divine Spirits." Da Vinci argued back without missing a beat, shooting him a smirk as she folded her arms over her chest. "Or do I need to bring up the Artemis theft which went unnoticed, or the Goddess who managed to hide in a room with none of us any the wiser?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Alright, when you put it like that…" Falling back into his chair, he brought his shoulders up and down, then sent her another odd look. "But what does this have to do with the heartbeat of the city riddle that we're trying to solve?"

"Oh, that? Well…H.F. seems to have some idea and I think we should look into it."

Romani furrowed his brows. "A literal heartbeat?"

"Kerry!" She didn't answer him, instead with a snap of her fingers she was now pointing across the room to the brunette and wearing a contemplative expression. "Bring up those readings we first took of the Singularity, I want to have another look at all of those…I get the feeling that there's something we missed the first time around."

It was his first time doing this sort of thing in his life.

But from what he knew about siege's they weren't supposed to go this way.

"Take co-oof!"

He ducked down behind cover as the charging Servant at his side was struck in the face with a orange water balloon, the chilled liquid splashed over them and dropped them to the ground in an instant, they rolled away and flicked their hair around, it moved like a solid mass as it slapped against their back.

"This is stupid." They declared a moment later, sneaking a hand out and grabbing their hat off the floor and pausing as they stared at it for a moment.

A second later, a water balloon splashed inside it, filling it up and forming a small puddle inside it.

Gawyn stared, then brought his eyes up to meet his comrade, one whom he felt as though he could trust even though he had no memory of meeting them before in his life. Perhaps it was when he was older.

"...Well, that's just fabulous." With a scowl, they turned back and fell against their cover with their back pressed against the flat block, turning the hat upside down and emptying the water out and onto the ground. With a sigh, they slapped the hat atop their head once more and turned to him. "Was your plan seriously just to charge? You really don't change at all as a brat, do you?"

Despite that comment, they seemed to be staring at him with a rather wide smile.

"I couldn't think of anything else."

"We don't have anything else so a frontal attack was all we could get." They replied with a shrug of the shoulders a moment later, then peered across over their cover before ducking back down, just in time to avoid another water balloon. "Damn! Ain't that guy supposed to be a Lancer? Why is he so good at throwing things?!"

Sir Percival.

Their speed and power when it came to projectiles was truly terrifying.

It was the name Sir Gareth had uttered in a mixture of shock and fear before she ran off to draw their attention. But if Sir Percival was aiming for them once more…then did that mean Sir Gareth had been bested already?

No, he could not dwell on such thoughts.

The water gun was cocked in his hands, taking aim over the cover he let out a small burst before he ducked back down.

Both he and his comrade blinked at the thud that followed, watching as rather than a water balloon, it was instead a foam sword which struck the ground between them and bounced down the hill. The fact it had struck the ground with enough force to dent the floor was rather concerning to him.

"...Knights of the Round Table are crazy. I will not be convinced otherwise."

"I don't know about crazy, Lord Nobunaga." He muttered to the woman with a shake of the head, he held off peering around the corner once more.

That last strike would have come from Sir Mordred.

Who else would have thrown a sword at him?

She kept aiming for him as well, he wasn't sure why she disliked him but he was sure there was a reason…was it because he won against King Arthur earlier?

…No, it couldn't be as simple as that.

"What happened to Jack?"

"The kid in rags?" Lord Nobunaga shook her head from side to side. "Haven't seen them since they said they were going to surprise them. Guess they never got that close….not surprised though. Assassin or not, they are a literal brat wearing a bin bag-"

They both paused when they heard a distant yell followed by what sounded like childish giggling.

With matching expressions, he and Nobunaga peered over the top of their cover towards the wall and stared with squinted eyes. When they were not immediately pelted with water balloons, Gawyn figured that Jack had actually managed to reach them-

"I surprised them!"

"Gwah!?"

Nobunaga let out a shout of surprise, Gawyn just turned his head to his left and stared at the grinning face of Jack as she looked up at him, a proud tint in her eyes which promised him success.

"I threw their own water balloons at them and ran away! They were very surprised!" Another round of giggling followed as a sharp smile spread across their face. "They looked so scared! The big Mister in snow armour looked very surprised as well! Though I think the shiny lady with the horns might chase me. She said she was going to."

Shiny lady with the horns?

What did that even-?

"Get back here you brat!"

The shout brought their attention to the sight of Sir Mordred stomping down the hill, hair soaked and murder in their eyes.

Suddenly Gawyn understood what happened.

And he brought up his water rifle and fired instantly, dousing Sir Mordred in the face with a stream of chilled water, the knight made a coughing sound before they stepped to the side, turning their eyes onto him and snarling like a beast.

Someone patted him on the shoulders twice, he turned and saw Nobunaga nod at him with an expression of utmost seriousness.

"I believe in your distraction capabilities."

And then she bolted away from him as fast as her legs could carry her.

Making it all of ten steps before she was nailed in the back of the head by another water balloon.

"Son of a-!"

Another water balloon.

"Language!"

The echo of Sir Percival's voice.

Gawyn turned back and stared at Sir Mordred, they brandished another foam sword with two hands and made it clear what their intentions were.

"You…I got business with you. You ain't worthy of beating Father, so don't let some fluke win let you think you're hot shiiiiii-" They trailed off after a moment, ending whatever they were going to say and then rolling their lips inwards. "...I'm just gonna beat you now."

"Not so fast, little sis!"

Gareth burst in from the side and tackled the knight to the ground, bringing a large water balloon above her head and slamming it down into the face of Mordred with a large splash, the knight coughed and flailed around from the sudden assault, Gareth rolled off them in the chaos and flashed him a confident smile. "I can take care of this!"

"The hell you can!" Mordred snarled and swung, narrowly avoiding taking Gareth in the head while the Lancer danced away from them. "And who the hell do you think you're calling little sis!"

With him all but ignored, the Saber charged down after her sibling without even once sparing him a second glance.

Gawyn shrugged and charged for the gates, Jack following by his side and then vaulting up the walls rather than moving through the gates. He saw her briefly make a beeline right for Percival before he passed underneath the tunnel; they vanished from his line of sight as he moved as fast as his legs could carry him.

Then he slid to a halt as he stared at the figure standing before the spire, sword planted in the ground and their hands on the pommel.

"So you have arrived at last, Gawyn."

"Lily." His own foam sword was brought to bear, narrowing his eyes at them as he started to pace forwards.

With a smile, the teen brought up her own sword and stared him down, similarly pacing around him.

"It seems as though we are bound to this fate of rivals, but perhaps that is a fitting destiny for us…that we both aim to become the great figures our older selves doubtlessly are." Lily declared with a sage nod of the head.

He paused for a moment, then exhaled. "I do not care for becoming a great figure…but if it is necessary to protect the smiles of the people before me, then that is how it shall be."

"...Yes, a wondrous dream you have. Now our rivalry is all the more meaningful."

"Perhaps so."

"...Then there is nothing left to say."

"Indeed not."

He paused for a moment, the smile formed easily upon his face and widened by the second. "I hope that you have fun with this, Lily."

She matched him a moment later. "Same with you, Gawyn! Even after I win!"

Rather than be put down by her confidence, he instead felt himself build up even taller. "You stole my words, Lily!"

They charged in the next moment.

"It was a draw and you know it!"

Gawyn kept himself silent as he watched the argument transpire between both Gareth and Mordred, despite the raised voices they were both wearing rather wide smiles on their faces, seemingly indicating that rather than being annoyed by the result, they were both pleased by it.

Though the smile on Sir Gareth's face seemed just a bit different to Sir Mordreds.

"Mmmhm." A slow nod of the head from Gareth, their expression looked almost dubious as they stared at their sibling for a moment longer, then took a slow bite out of the sausage in the bread roll they had been given.

"Tch. Acting all high and mighty." Mordred scowled, waving a hand dismissively. "This is just because I wasn't taking it seriously is all, in a proper training match I'd have clubbed your aaaaa…."

For whatever reason, Mordred trailed off at the same time that Atalanta paced around behind them, the Archer sent a pointed glare into the back of the blonde's head for a few moments until they fell silent. Then gave a single pleased nod of the head before moving away, but not before offering him a small smile.

Percival chuckled under their breath, "You're much too worried about a simple game, Mordred. There was no shame in anything and I would have thought you'd be rather proud of the skill shown by your sister!"

His exclamation was accompanied by them giving Gareth a rather loud pat on the back which jerked the Lancer into the table. Almost spilling the entire contents of their drinks onto the surface, something the man noticed immediately and paused, staring at the wobbling cups for only a moment before they flashed a guilty smile. "Sorry about that."

"Damn potato loving meat head!"

Gawyn frowned, then leaned towards Lily "Is that supposed to be an insult? Because I like potatoes…"

Artoria Lily sent him an odd look that seemed almost pitiful. "Not as much as you would think, but potatoes and meat tend to wear down on the stomach after years of having them…not that I have a problem, it was either that or gruel when I was growing up." a brief pause, then they frowned. "Actually, Sir Ector said that meat and potatoes should be good for any knight."

"I grew up eating the food of knights?" It suddenly made a lot more sense to him. "Then again, Fath-Sir Llew was a knight as well."

"Your dad was a knight?" Gareth perked up the moment the words passed between his lips, giving him a new look that seemed almost appraising. He didn't feel quite worthy of it, Sir Llew was almost certainly a far better character than he was. "That's pretty incredible, you must have grown up with that sense of chivalry then!"

"...I…wasn't raised as a knight." He replied slowly, then shook his head. "But I have my own code to honour. I have become pleased with it. I will protect the smiles of the people I am charged with protec-"

Something smacked against his face, jerking him backwards.

The irritated voice of Mordred came next.

"You damned thief, that's fathers code-"

"Sir Mordred, I do not hold claim over the entire ideal." Artoria lily chided rather quickly with a frown, Mordred opened their mouth to reply and then clamped it shut, looking down at the table and grumbling something under their breath that he couldn't quite make out. "Good. I have already made an agreement with Gawyn that we shall both better the other to ensure the ideal is realised to its fullest extent!"

Mordred made a rather sour face, and Gawyn felt as though he had overstepped his bounds. It was more of an agreement which had been forced into, refusing them seemed to be just as rude as accepting their deal was arrogant, but what was done was done in the end.

"Here, Jack." Passing the fizzy drink towards the Assassin, she paused for a moment before taking it from his grasp and smiling up at him. "You have earned this for your performance, a perfect distraction you made."

"The hell was I then? The perfect target?" Nobunaga complained as they wiped sauce off their face, pointing across the table at Percival. "And what the hell was up with aiming for me all the time? You kept hitting me in the head!"

Percival only shrugged his shoulders. "Your hat is rather large and, quite literally, difficult to miss."

"Wha-!?"

"I thought she wore the funny hat for that reason." Jack innocently asked, tilting her head and taking a sip through the straw, only to pull her head back and make a baffled face as she stared at the drink. "Bubbly."

Gawyn nodded his head in sympathy to the Assassin.

That had been his reaction as well.

"...Tastes nice though." Jack remarked quietly, then went back for a second sip.

He smiled and left her to it, his eyes turning across to the others.

"We're defending next time."

Mordred snorted at his statement, then flashed a sharp grin. "Sure you are, and I'll be there to rip down your defences and send you packing!"

A raised eyebrow from Percival. "That seems a touch violent for an innocent game."

"No, I will meet their challenge head on." Gawyn declared, sweeping across the table and pointing towards the knight, matching her gaze with one of his own, pulling his lips up. He did not know why, but the thoughts of victory had become far more appealing to him ever since he had begun these games. "And then I will defeat them."

"You ain't got no chance against me, brat!" She pointed a finger square at his face. "And no amount of luck is gonna stop me from shoving your head in freezing water."

"Sir Mordred…" Artoria lily chided with a shake of the head, turning her gaze onto him and flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Sir Mordred is a very talented knight and very devoted, but sometimes they let their emotions get the better of them…but I still consider them one of my most skilled knights! Or, I will."

Mordred mumbled once again and looked down at the table, drawing their lips thin and snatching their soda up. Drinking rather noisily from it while Percival and Gareth watched on with matching grins.

All of which seemed to fuel a fresh wave of frustration from the knight.

It was chaotic and disorderly.

Not at all what he was told was right with the world.

But…he didn't care.

This was…fun.

Ritsuka watched from a comfortable distance as Gawyn laughed and joked with the others, ever since they had started to get involved their mood seemed to have shifted. They smiled more often and it was almost as though he was actually watching a child hang out with their friends.

Quite simply, it was a side of Ash he had never really seen and was certain had never been exposed to the world.

"Should we join them, Senpai?"

"Hmm?" He turned to Mash, sitting next to him with an ice cream in her hands, he debated their suggestion for a couple of moments before shaking his head. "You can go over and join them if you want but…I think he'd get a bit tense if I went over and joined him. He looks more relaxed when he doesn't have to worry about protecting me."

Mash looked at him somewhat sadly. "I'm sure that he would be relaxed around you, Senpai…"

"She's right, you know."

His eyes turned to the new speaker, Boudica flashed him a gentle smile that was rather encouraging. "And don't think I miss how you're looking at him. You want to be a part of his fun just as much as anything. Worrying about whether or not you'll ruin his good humour will just make him more concerned if he looks over here and sees you fretting."

A huff escaped him, his lips pulled up. "I feel like I'm getting bullied into spending time with friends. Someone, help me."

Something buzzed on his wrist, he turned it about and glanced down at the communicator on his uniform.

With a raised brow, he activated it and opened the screen to see the face of Da Vinci and Romani.

"Sorry to interrupt play time, protagonista, but we have something!"

The immediate announcement from Da Vinci had him straighten out quickly, his expression turning serious. "What is it?"

"Turns out that the demon was actually speaking literally." Their statement was accompanied by the screen shifting to reveal the spikes of the energy pattern he had seen before coming down here. The inconsistent readings which bounced up and down. "I figured that there might be more to this but when everyone spoke of it literally, I decided that another glance was warranted."

He followed along with her explanation with a nod of the head.

Then the screen shifted again.

"And then look at what happens when we present the pulse of magical energy in another format."

A line moved across the screen, wavering ever so slightly as it travelled.

Then it shot up in a single powerful spike before dropping back down.

He kept his eyes on it, then his brows started to pinch as he watched the pattern repeat itself again and again and again. There was now a consistency within it that was becoming rather obvious.

"That looks like-"

"A heart rate." Romani declared, pushing in and frowning rather heavily. "A rather quick one as well, we're measuring it at around one-hundred and ten beats per minute, so almost like someone after running a marathon or under stress…" they mumbled, then shook their head. "The point being, this signal is…well…troubling. It's not coming from the spire where the Goddess resides."

It wasn't?

Well, he didn't think the Goddess would have kept the Holy Grail right next to her, but even still.

"Where are you detecting it?"

Romani hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Da Vinci before back to him. "The signal is coming from underneath the city. There's more to it as well…we compared the signature of the magical energy with known encounters."

The man straightened himself out. "...This pulse had more in common with the Demon who attacked the city than with any previously encountered Holy Grails."

Ritsuka felt himself still. "...Are you saying there is a Demon underneath the city?"

"That's what it looks like."

If there was a demon underneath the city then…

"Wait…I thought the signal was the source of the Singularity." Mash spoke up, turning her head towards the doctor and pinching her brows tight in confusion. "If that is similar to the demons, but it also provides magical energy to this entire location then…does that mean that the signal is related to the demons and is alive?"

The ferocity of the demon attacks could be explained if they were trying to get to this signal.

Ritsuka frowned.

"...Can you plot us a direct course to this signal?"

Romani nodded his head up and down. "We can."

"Boudica, get Gawyn and Gareth. We're going down there and we're going to have a look at this."

If the Demons were aiming for something under the city and it was related to them, then perhaps they were aiming to reclaim something rather than enjoy the festivities. There might well have been much more going on here, like he initially suspected, than just a rampant show of vandalism.

Ritsuka crouched down as he stared at the grate, then brought his head up to the others. "Is this really the only place?"

"It is the fastest." Romani replied slowly, sympathy in their voice. "And really, who knows whats going to happen when you start poking around at the central point of this Singularity. There's every chance that the Goddess might retaliate and you could get bogged down in another route."

Well, that didn't sound appealing.

Neither did marching through an old sewer system either but…if it was the quickest way.

"It cannot be helped." He blinked, then shot a look to the speaker as Gawyn marched forwards, in a single breath they ripped the steel grate from the ground with their bare hands. Not looking as though they had even struggled before they dumped it next to the hole. "If there is something wrong here, then we should find out quickly."

A beat, then Gawyn continued onwards. "Especially if it is the cause for the demon attacks. It could be the key to preventing more."

Ritsuka hummed, then glanced down at the hole. "...Yeah, you're right."

Rising back up to his feet, he took in a deep breath before he moved forwards, only to pause when Gawyn brought an arm up in front of him. They cut him off before he could even get a word out.

"I should go first, Master Ritsuka. There is no telling what sort of dangers might be down there."

Ritsuka raised a brow, then nodded his head before pausing.

Namely because Mash had stepped forwards. "Then I should be the first one to go down, I'm the sturdiest out of all of us."

"I wasn't aware that we were basing this on being brick walls." Boudica remarked with a shake of the head. "And just because you can take a hit or two, that doesn't mean you can afford to be reckless, Mash. No, I'll go down there first-"

"La-" Gawyn cut himself short. "Boudica, out of all of us, it should be me wh-"

Ritsuka silently watched Medusa walk past the arguing trio and towards the hole, with barely a glance aimed at him, she stepped forwards and dropped down into the hole. A splash was heard a moment later, he waited for a few seconds before leaning forwards and staring down, the Rider looked up at him.

"Well?" He called down.

She looked left and right, then back up. "There is no immediate danger, nor can I sense anything."

"Thanks." He turned to the others. "Medusa says its fine."

They all paused, turning towards him and wearing similarly abashed looks.

Gareth shrugged. "If she didn't do something, then I was going to."

A sigh escaped him. "Lets just move."

As far as sewers went, this was arguably one of the best he had ever waded through in his life. The lack of…well…contents was greatly appreciated.

Then again, this was a resort for Servants and as far as he knew, they didn't actually need to use the toilet. Or at least he had never heard about anything like that before, so that was alright.

"How is everyone doing?" He called either side of him, voice bouncing through the tunnel, along with splashes of water as they moved. His one complaint would have been how cold the water actually was.

"It is very cramped." Gawyn called back, the child in front of him paused for a moment and then continued onwards. "And I don't like how the water is soaking through my armour. It feels very uncomfortable and I'm cold. I'll be fine but-"

Oh, right.

Gawyn was pretty much a really strong kid at the moment, rather than being a Servant. The thought made him wince before replying to them. "Don't worry, Gawyn. We'll probably be out of here in no time…"

"I hope so." Boudica remarked from further ahead, a particular note of distaste in her voice. "Clean or not, a sewer is still a sewer."

"It could be worse…this is actually cleaner than the stables." Gareth called back from behind him, finding some manner of joy in their situation. Though that wasn't particularly difficult, she was literally like a ray of sunshine in the dark most of the time. "That was really bad. Especially if no one had been there to clean them…but big brother Agravain made sure that everyone remembered after this one time-"

"Far be it from me to put a damper on your joy." He interrupted gently. "But can we not talk about poo while I'm knee deep in a sewer. Clean or not, its really gonna make me feel queasy."

"Ah, right. Sorry, Master."

"I'm not upset just…nevermind, Romani? How close are we?"

He timed that well enough, the trio of Medusa, Gawyn and Boudica rounded the corner and then abruptly halted. He had just about enough time to raise an eyebrow at them before a noise reached his ears. The patter of water flowing down and striking rocks, accompanied by what sounded like a hiss.

The temperature started to climb as well.

"You're close. Within a hundred metres at least."

Romani's voice provided further context for what he already knew at least, though his gaze narrowed just a bit as his feet carried him forwards even further, rounding the corner and joining the others before he similarly paused.

The sewer tunnel came to an abrupt end, before him lay a rather vast chasm with a vaguely orange tint to it, subtle lighting brought about by the dotted flames rising from the floor. His eyes darted to the direction of Gawyn, watching their reaction and he noticed it immediately, the tension in their shoulders.

"Gawyn, are you-"

"Lets go." Their curt reply cut him off, they stepped forwards and dropped down to the ground, clanking against the floor before anyone could get another word out. Ritsuka moved forwards and stared down, they walked across the expanse for a few steps before turning up to face them. "Master Ritsuka?"

"...Okay."

He was the next one to drop down, it wasn't much of a drop either. Probably two metres if he had to guess, the landing was a bit rougher than he would have liked but he didn't fall flat on his face at least. Gawyn caught him by the shoulder and helped him straighten up, a mild look of concern on their face as they did so.

Ritsuka saw the unspoken question in their eyes, one he answered. "I'm alright, Gawyn. Thanks for worrying though."

The movement was accompanied by another pat on the head from him, Gawyn froze up at the gesture for half a second before they relaxed and - he could swear - they pushed their head into his palm almost like they were a dog before catching themselves and leaning back, a stony expression as though they'd done nothing.

"It's only natural, Master Ritsuka."

The clank of drops behind him turned his head, Medusa having come down next into the chamber room, though that wasn't what he really wanted to call it.

It felt more like a sauna.

The water still falling from the sewer pipe and to the floor hissed and spat when it touched the rocky ground, showcasing the heat of the floor. Indeed, he could feel it under the soles of his shoes. Like being close to a radiator, he doubted this was the sort of place he'd be able to say in for very long.

And that was with Da Vinci's protective mystic code.

He turned his head, staring straight across the chamber towards the hole at the other side, his eyes narrowed at what looked like a metal door fixed into the wall. The surrounding wall face around the door was equally made from rusted looking metal.

Both Gawyn and Gareth moved on ahead of him.

Turning back around, he looked to the mouth of the tunnel to see Mash's back facing him, still standing and not having dropped down yet.

By her side stood Boudica, the Rider similarly staring down the tunnel.

"Mash? Boudica? You guys alright?"

"I thought I heard water splashes, Senpai." Mash replied quickly with an air of tension in her voice.

Water splashes?

He raised an eyebrow. "Can you sense anything?"

"...No." She replied after a tense moment, her shoulders dropping a little as he heard a sigh escape her. "I might have imagined it."

He understood that feeling well enough. "Places like these play on my nerves a lot too. It's fine. Come on down, there's something up ahead."

Turning back around, he saw both Gareth and Gawyn facing his direction with concerned looks.

Romani's voice chimed in before he could speak to them.

"The signal is really strong now, Fujimaru-kun. It's coming from right ahead-"

Crashes echoed behind him. Mash and Boudica cried out, the sound of stone cracking to pieces shattering the quiet.

Ritsuka whipped his head around, Gawyn and Gareth readying their weapons. "Guys-"

His voice stopped in his throat as soon as he saw the sight before him.

Boudica and Mash were down- or rather, beaten down. The Rider was crushed into the ground and splayed out like some kind of broken puppet. Mash was embedded into the wall, head lolling in place and would have fallen if not for how she was being held up.

His first instinct was to cry out, but something stopped him.

No, someone.

Chris stood where the two downed Servants were. Her boot pressed into Boudica's stomach with enough force to draw blood, the increased pressure driving the unconscious Servant further into the ground. Her hand grasped Mash's head, bone cracking as she squeezed and shoved the girl further into the wall. She didn't flinch as Mash coughed up blood onto her. In contrast, her stance remained controlled.

"Ma-" Ritsuka began to walk forward, halting as Chris shifted.

She looked at him. Her sunglasses were removed, hanging off her coat's collar. With them removed, he could truly see the full resemblance to Medusa- the same features, same hair, everything. But there was one difference.

The eyes.

Purple eyes with slitted pupils stared at him silently. They glowed ethereally as if casting some kind of spell.

He tried to move, but those eyes… as he stared into them, his body wouldn't obey.

No words stretched between them until Chris pressed her downed opponents further into the sewer. Even unconscious they cried out, flesh rupturing from the force being applied to them.

"I warned you."

Chris' words were the only warning Ritsuka got before she disappeared in a pulse of speed and wind.

"Master!" Gareth cried out, dashing forward, "hang bac-"

Their words were cut short, their body locked up just a few steps past him.

Freezing like an image for all of a second, he barely caught sight of their panicked expression as they fell forwards only to jerk backwards.

Chris was before the Lancer in a split second, cleaving down with their sword in a blur, a splat and a sizzle followed, Ritsuka stared dumbly at the limb now arcing through the air, flying from the owner.

Gareth didn't even get the chance to cry out from the loss of their limb before Chris twirled, in the next instant the Saber had twisted around faster than he could comprehend and it was only the still image of the heel of the Servant crunching into the side of Gareth's helm and the groan of steel that gave him some indication of what happened.

Then the Lancer was ragdolling through the air, smashing into the wall and being showered with dust, all but vanishing from his line of sight.

Chris charged the second her foot hit the ground from the roundhouse kick, but contrary to what Ritsuka thought was going to happen, she didn't rush him.

She went for someone else instead.

Gawyn kicked backwards, bringing up his free arm while his other was still in the midst of drawing his sword.

The sword in Chris hand blurred like light before snapping to a halt, buried halfway into the forearm of Gawyn while the rest of the blade extended upwards, she had moved to decapitate the boy in that single strike.

Instead she had buried the edge of the sword into his arm and pushed it far enough back that it had bitten into the side of his neck.

Slitted eyes stared into Gawyn's. Ritsuka felt the pulse of magic and Gawyn stopped moving, locking up with sword have drawn.

A disappointed sigh. "Pathetic."

Chris reversed her sword and dragged across, blood spilled down from the slashes on the young blonde, both from his split arm and his cut throat. His sword all but forgotten as he pressed his arm into the side of his neck to stem the bleeding.

Ritsuka saw the flash of panic in their eyes as they locked gazes with him for all of a second.

The Servant collapsed, writhing.

Ritsuka paled, the sounds of Romani and Da Vinci unable to get through the panic in his chest.

The whole assault had taken place in a few seconds. Within those seconds, most of his Servants were-

"Truly, you are a pathetic, obnoxious fly."

In a burst of speed, with her arms glowing gold, Chris appeared before him. She drove her sword towards his chest-

The air broke as another blur slammed into Chris, sending her away. The Saber flipped, stabbing her hand into the ground to slow her momentum. When she came to a stop, no wound was present on her, she didn't even look winded.

Her slitted, snake-like eyes narrowed.

Medusa stood in front of Ritsuka, her chained stakes in her hands. Her blindfold lay discarded on the floor, magic crackling around her, burning the air. Her hair shimmered, the ends curling like snakes sizing up prey.

"Hmph. I thought I would have enough time before you stopped me."

Chris stood back up from where they had been kicked, looking rather unconcerned as they flexed their arm. Clenching their hand opened and closed several times before raising their head and shooting a look to the Rider.

He couldn't quite place it, but it looked almost pleased.

"But perhaps that was nothing more than arrogance on my part. Believing that your surprise would last long enough."

Medusa said nothing, she didn't even so much as move a single muscle, instead her glare remained solely fixed on the Servant.

Ritsuka found himself unable to move and not because of whatever Chris had done to him, but because he knew the second he moved so much as a muscle, they would act. One of them would attack the second he did anything. His eyes flickered to the distant limp form of Gareth, head dropped low and helm dented inwards.

The wet gurgles of Gawyn persisted and, horrifyingly enough, he had yet to hear even so much as a whimper of pain from Mash.

"Will you fight to kill me?"

Chris's sudden question threw him for a loop, only until he realised it was aimed at Medusa rather than himself.

His eyes fell on the Rider, who remained silent for only a few moments before replying with a single word.

"Yes."

Chris' expression twitched, a brief flicker of something passed through their eyes before it vanished, their head nodded up and down before they exhaled. "Of course. That is how things should be. So long as only I have your attention."

Her next words broke his mind in a way he hadn't expected.

"Mother."