Colan VII

"Almost time," Colan's eyes followed the mage as he paced. Every few moments, Mairu would stop, and look out the small window of this room, all the while nervously tapping on the side of his arm. Then, he'd throw out his hands, and begin to pace once more, his feet crossing the stone of the floor. It was some old abandoned hall they had him in, on the ground floor. He'd been knocked out when they brought him here, so he wasn't sure where exactly in Braavos this was, bu-

"That one-eyed bastard," he heard the mage seeth again. Colan looked again across the room, to see the one other person he'd recognized since he'd been brought here.

Sitting against a wall on the other side of the room was Nitocris. She had gone with Emiya only a few hours before he'd been caught, so it sort of made sense that she might have been grabbed by Mairu at some point. Where he was held by two chains on his arms to the wall on his side, she was being held by some strange spell. There was a circle about his height from one end to the other, with symbols and runes and markings that Nitocris had tried to explain to him during one of the few times they had been left alone.

That had been very little time though. During the time they'd been kept here, about two days now, there had almost always been someone in the room. At first, it had been the one-eyed man who had captured him, Euron the Foreigner. He'd heard some of the legendary Ironborn pirate while traveling with his Da, none of it good. His presence alone during those hours under the pale blue eye had been the least comfortable that Colan had had since he'd been forced to sleep on his own in the back alleys of Ghis.

Luckily, he'd left only about halfway through the rest of that first day Euron had left. Most of the rest of the hours had been between different looking people, from all manners of life, coming through. But they didn't act like peoples from different acts of life, they all would do the same, find a high enough seat with views of both he and Nitocris, and then watch quietly with specific focus on their actions. How Da had shown him to do guard duty, so Colan guessed these had to all have had some training on this, and all very likely having the same training. With some of what Mairu had managed to let slip, these were likely Faceless Men.

'Da,' Colan for a moment thought of his father, and winced. He couldn't believe that he'd run away from his father as he had. A second later, he shook his head, 'Can't think on that now.'

Which brought Colan to who was watching them right now and had watched them the most over the past day, Mairu. Colan hadn't seen much of Mairu before. In Ghis, he'd been quiet and in the background of the Harpy Emperor. In Pentos, he'd been proud, waving his arms about and somehow really angering Ritsuka enough to get him to show real anger. Here, he seemed-

"That fucking shit needs to get moving," the mage whined once more, reaching over, and slamming his arm across a crate, sending several metal trinkets scattering across the floor.

-ratty. Miaru shrieked, and grabbed at his hair. Or rather, what was left of it, as there were only short little clumps of brown along his bandaged and bruised head. Then the mage threw himself to the floor, trying to pick up the little pieces of metal that Colan could guess had some kind of delicate magical purpose. It was almost sad for a man worthy of so little pity. As the mage was looking away from them, Colan looked up, and got just a hint of a nod from his chained companion.

'Plan's still on,' Colan thought, 'just a few minutes more…'

They'd only had a bit of time where it had just been the two of them. When Euron had been here the first morning, and the Faceless Men for the next good while, they hadn't even attempted it. But once Mairu had been left alone with them, he had proven to be less natural of a guard. He left on occasion. Oh, he'd seemed to check the magic circle around Nitocris and the chains around Colan and the lock at the door, but unlike before, he'd left them alone, with enough time to pla-

"There we go," Mairu was standing back up, placing the delicate things on the crate once more, "Good as new," there was a large crack down one glass orb, but the last time Colan had laughed at Mairu for another one of these spasms, Mairu had come and punched him in the side of the head.

"I'm going to enjoy having that dog gut you," he remembered hearing while his ear thumped with pain.

"Snrrt," Nitocris was far less afraid than he was.

Mairu snapped to her, hands clenched into shaking fists as he did so. He stormed up to the circle before stopping a foot away, and then pointing directly at her, "Stop laughing at me!" this only caused Nitocris's mouth to quiver more. He almost reached over the outer line of the circle, but pulled back, "You aren't going to get me to break the seal, so I'd quiet down now," he then began to smirk down at her, "Besides, in a few hours, once the Faceless Men finish their ritual and Euron has ascended, I'll have enough power to make you my servant," his hands waved around her form, "And I can assure you, I'm going to have a lot of fun paying you back."

"All coming together now then?" Nitocris spoke up, and as she did so, Colan felt the tension in his body begin to build. Their plan was on, but Nitocris needed to have Mairu's full attention if this was going to work, "From the way you have been pacing, I highly doubt that it's going the way you want."

"Shut up."

"I mean," Nitocris said, "You told us this morning that the Faceless Men would already have your secret weapon ready by now," she shrugged her shoulders, "And yet, your still here pacing. And it doesn't take much to see that Euron is playing his own game-"

"Shut up!"

"If I had to guess, he's been like Grazdan, hasn't he," at the mention of that name, Mairu seemed to hitch, "You were desperate for another servant, considering how you failed in Pentos, and you probably gave more leeway to Euron than you intended-"

"Shut up!"

"But he's proven so useless in this, that you are relying on those Faceless Men. It certainly makes sense, Euron doesn't respect you in the least," Nitocris leaned forward, smirking, "your desperate to find a way to beat Ritsuka, but you just keep failin-"

"I'm a thousand times the mage that little shit is!" Colan felt his heart soar as Mairu's hand finally crossed the outer line of the circle. Almost instantly, a small blue line of magic began to appear from where the seal had been broken, and it began to snake its way towards Colan. All the while, he allowed Mairu to continue to shout, "He stole everything from me!"

"Really now," Nitocris made a big show of rolling her eyes, drawing Mairu's eyes away from the tip of her fingers, which she had against the stone of the floor beneath her to send out her magic spell, "You keep saying that, but I don't see why?" Colan watched as the magic snake finally made its way to his arm, and jumped slightly into the clasp of his chain, What did he do that "Stole everything from you?"" Colan could feel the magic working inside the metal along his hand, the lock slowly being moved about, "Were you one of those original forty-seven Masters that got injured so badly during Grand Order? Ritsuka saved your lif-"

"I wasn't one of those!" Mairu screamed, reaching up to his face, and pounding his fists into his skull. Colan retched back at the sight, as the mage across from him let out a guttaral scream of rage and frustration, "I wasn't even given the chance to be!" Colan could see tears begin to pour down along the bandages around Mairu's face, "he took it! The fucking, shit-faced mother fucking worm took it from me!" he then stopped, and fell forward, and began to cough, before placing a hand on his mouth, and coughing for a moment or so more.

CHINK

'Really good Nitocris managed to distract him,' Colan thought as he felt the first iron chain become undone. The magical line then jumped off of him, and twisted around his legs so it was approaching the arm on his other side, 'No way I'd be able to slip out as long as he was paying attention,' still, only half way there.

"You know," Mairu was now standing up again, staring directly into Nitocris's eyes, "the whole thing about a ten civilian's getting into Chaldea," he shook his head, "It was a lie. It was a lie made to keep the UN on board so they would think they'd have a hand in Chaldea," he then waved his hand through the air, "The real plan was for the thirty-eight mages of great families, and then sneak in ten mages that had been trained for a decade to be Masters. Clocktower would be in full control, while keeping those stupid mundanes providing their technology and their money."

Colan didn't much get what was being said, but he watched as Nitocris looked up at Mairu, and did her best to sound interested, "So you were trained to be a master?"

"Ten years," Mairu spat, "Ten, damned, wasted years," he reached up, wiping at his eye, and when his bandaged hand came down there was a mix of blood and tears across it, "They had me train for ten years, and I made the fucking cut," he shook his head, "I was getting on the ship when they pulled me out. And instead my spot went to Ritsuka Fujimaru."

"They pulled out a man with ten years of training for a kid off the street!" Colan could feel the other lock give way, and fall to his side, "A little punk who hadn't earned or worked for anything in his entire life was given my spot," as Mairu continued to stare directly at Nitocris, Colan slowly pushed himself to his knees. Nitocris then sent the little string of magic up from the clamp, towards Colan's side, and then he felt it curl into his pocket, "I should have been the lone standing Master of Chaldea! ME!"

"You must have been saving this speech for a while," Nitocris still refused to move her gaze from Mairu. Colan moved from his knees to his feet, and slowly took a step, "Was this what you were planning to shout at Ritsuka when you finally had your Servants to back you up," she then twisted her head to the side, and then added cutely, "Or were you going to wait until you'd already beaten him down before you aired your grievances?"

"I was going to tell him," Mairu held out his hands right in front of Nitocris, "when I had my fingers around this pencil thin neck you bitch," he then began to giggle a little bit. He hunched over closer to Nitocris, now completely ignoring the circle he was breaking, "When I can see the life drawing from his eyes, I'm going to tell him how I'm taking back what's mine, my role, my servants," he seemed to lean even closer in, "My women."

Colan didn't bother to look back, as he walked towards the door. It was only partially open, and he would need just a bit more time to sneak out without letting Mairu know.

"So you are like Grazdan then?" Nitocris spoke up, and Colan could see Mairu quake. Nitocris then added, "Need power before you can make any woma-"

"It's my power, it's mine!" Colan placed his hand on the door, and pushed it open, "All of it is mine! I am an ideal Master! I trained for it, I earned it, I will use it! I wi-" Colan stopped paying attention as he pushed the door open just enough for him to slip through. He stopped, gave one last look back, while Mairu continued to scream, "I will make that French bitch light his skin on fire whil-"

Colan turned and ran down the hallway. It was only barely illuminated by candlelight. Colan had lost his shoes sometime during his stay, so that helped keep his pace quiet. After less than a few seconds, Colan had reached an opening in the building, and jumped through it.

He found himself standing on the cobblestone pavement of Braavos. He looked around quickly, and to his left, a hundred yards or so away, was the largest temple he'd gotten his eyes on. 'Moonsinger's,' Colan thought. He knew that was the biggest temple in Braavos, and the northernmost in the chain of temple islands, 'That means-,' he turned to his right, and pointed diagonally across the buildings in front of him, 'Outcast Inn should be that way!'

He had to get to the Outcast Inn. He and Nitocris had agreed on that point alone. Colan did his best to memorize the building where he had come from, and nodded to himself, 'I'll be back Nitocris,' he turned fully towards the Outcast Inn, and ran as fast as his feet could take him. He ran toward one of the alleyways facing West, and was quickly past the crates and junk littered around it. It took only a few seconds for him to make it through-

"WHERE ARE YOU YOU LITTLE FREAK!"

Which was good, because he was likely already out of sight of the building he'd just escaped. As he heard Mairu shriek from around the building, Colan sprinted with all his strength. For a moment he nearly reached down into his pocket with the spool of mana, but he kept his hand out of there.

'Not yet,' he thought to himself. Nitocris had been performing a rather intricate spell, despite how easy it had seemed from Colan's eyes. It had two purposes. The first had been to unlock his shackles and allow Colan to escape the room. That alone would have been enough, but Nitocris had added a bit of longevity to the spell, so that it might be of use later. It was only a short burst, however, and Nitocris had been very careful to tell him to only use it the moment he'd need it. He nodded to himself, as he twisted through another alley, and was glad to be at least three blocks from the room he'd been held in.

'Need to find a bridge,' he thought to himself. He looked to his left, to the south, and saw that the alley's leading there lead to dead ends along one of the smaller inner canals. Colan could even see that other alleyways were just across the canal. He then looked forward, and saw a larger road about three buildings down, which was likely where the next bridge would be. He smiled to himself, 'that's the bridge. I just have to cross there, and I'm way too far ahea-'

And then he saw two figures jump down right on that road from a building. He immediately stopped himself, and stared as he watched the two look toward the bridge, and then turn, and stare directly at him. Then, he heard the sound of feet landing behind him, likely not even a full building away.

'Faceless men,' Colan thought.

His hand then shot into his pocket. He grabbed onto the small spool of thread, and lunged down the nearest alleyway toward the canal. In what felt like one step, his foot was already on the edge of the road. Colan then did his best to hop, and a second later, he was landing across into the alleyway to his south. He barely spared a look back, and saw that there was a figure with a blade in its hand standing right where he'd been standing when he'd grabbed the mana burst. But then, Colan turned, and began to sprint with all his might.

'This will only last a minute or two,' Colan remembered from Nitocris's warning. Already, he felt his legs pulsing with pain, 'I need to get to the inn now,' he turned to where he knew the inn would be taking his first step and shooting down this new alleyway, 'I have to make it!'

When he came free of that alley, he only realized that there was a massive…light? Feeling? Signal?

He couldn't fully describe it, but there was something that was coming from where Colan could guess the inn was. Colan gave one quick glance back, and saw two other signals from behind him, one from where he had just escaped, and another a bit to his east, on the temple islands.

'The mana burst,' Colan thought as he took another step, and was two buildings down to the South, 'It must be letting me see the servant's mana,' he then returned his gaze to the southwest, and could only grin, 'Now I know where they are,' he sprinted, and made it down another block once more, 'Now, as long as I can keep moving, I shou-"

And as he made a turn west, to try and turn across a bridge of the the next canal, he stopped. There were three figures on the bridge, all staring directly at him. They immediately pulled out long knives, and charged at him. Or, at least, tried to.

'They are so slow,' Colan thought, noticing how each step was like they were running through the waves of the sea, 'The call must have gone out fo the Faceless men in the city to guard the bridges,' he shook his head, and then charged forward, 'Probably already there to fight when Mairu's plan starts off, to keep guards from getting to help the harbors.'

No matter what the reason, they were in front of him now. Still, he couldn't dally. He angled himself, and then lunged forward. A second later, he was on top of the bridge, having gone through the gap between two of them. He rolled, then came to his feet, hopped, and began to run once more. He didn't even glance back, hoping that he'd left the Faceless Men guarding the bridge too shocked.

This happened twice more at two more bridges. He would make his way down the alleys and roads of the Western City, evading any kind of obstacle as he made it. He'd then finally find a bridge over one of the canals blocking his way to Outcast Inn. There, he'd find another small group of Faceless Men, all just ready enough to try and stop him. He'd then use the bursts from the mana, and make it past them, ducking and diving and dodging his way through the knives and fists of his pursuers. Colan felt elated each time he made it through, and briefly wondered if this was what it was like for Da and Xuanzang and the others when they used magic to fight or run.

But…

'I'm running out,' Colan could feel the mana beginning to loosen, as he just managed to see Naboo's bridge four blocks to his front. Naboo's Bridge was one of the largest not along the main canals, and also only happened to be about six blocks north of Outcast Inn. But Colan wasn't even sure if he had the mana to make it to Naboo's bridge, let alone over it with figures that were likely Faceless Men dotting the top of it. And even if he did, he'd have to try and run south, with Faceless Men chasing him.

It was even worse as the mana began to go away. His legs were aching. No, not just aching, but in real, great pain. Like someone was stabbing into him. Maybe using the mana like this had driving his legs more than his body could take? He couldn't be sure, but what he did know was that once his legs gave out, he wouldn't be able to run as fast as he could before he'd used the mana.

'Damnit,' he could begin to feel tears well up at the sides of his eyes. He'd almost done it. He'd almost gotten away. But he'd gotten caught too early. If he'd just made it across that first bridge before using the mana, he'd have probably made it. Now…now…

He looked up toward the sky, Southwest to the Outcast Inn, and for a moment his mind froze. Because, there was actually another signal quite close. Maybe it had been covered up by the much larger signal of the other servants. Maybe it was from the angle. But he could see another signal, smaller, and straight to the south…but closer than Outcast inn.

So much closer, that he could probably reach it with the mana he had.

Colan turned towards the smaller signal. It was his only chance. Maybe Da or Xuanzang was out looking for him. Maybe it was that pirate lady out on the town…maybe it was Euron.

It didn't matter. This was his only chance to get help. Certainly Colan knew it when he heard steps along the rooftops near him. This was his chance, this stray servant. Either he would be saved, or he would die.

It took him only a second to use up the last of his mana. Almost immediately, he lost his balance, and began to roll along the stone road. He winced as he did so, closing his eyes. He then shot them open, and saw for the last instant the signal begin to disappear. But he saw it was coming from a small little wine sack just a few feet ahead of him. Vaguely, he began to feel his eyes not only lose their ability to see the signal, but most sight in general. He could only make out flickering light from inside, and dark figures moving about it.

"Someone please!" he shouted. His throat was beginning to close, and Colan could not breathe while also speaking. He began to cough again and again, before suddenly he opened his mouth to speak once more, only to feel a hand clasp around it.

"You gave an admirable chase," he heard a calm voice say behind him. The Faceless Men had caught up. Colan couldn't even muster the energy to cry, his body so aching from his rush that he could only lay there against the stone, "But, this is where yo-"

"Did I hear something out here?"

And then the world stopped. Colan saw a figure step from the doors of the wine sack. Colan's sight was half there and half not, so he could not truly see any features. But he didn't need to see features, when he could here the woman's voice, proud…and slightly drunk.

"Oiiiiii," the figure slurred, "Whaaatttt's tis I seee?" Colan could feel sweat dew on the back of his head, and it was only mostly due to his exhaustion from the over a mile he'd run in around a minute, "This seems a bit suspicious to me."

"This is none of your concern," the Faceless Man on top of him spoke up. Colan could hear a few other steps behind him, and guessed that there were at least four or so Faceless Men around him, "Return inside so we do not need to deal with yo-"

SHLINK

Colan then felt himself being held along by his waist. He could only blink, his eyesight returning, as well as the control of his limbs. He winced at the sudden increase in pain all over his body. But he winced even more when he could finally see that he wasn't where he had landed, but staring down at the road from the top of a building. He blinked twice, and then felt something give way, and saw an arm fall off of his back, down toward a rather large pile of dismembered limbs and body parts.

"You fools," somehow, the voice of the woman to his right had lost most of its slurring, "You underestimated the constitution of a hero hearing a call for aid," a long blade, slightly curbed, was pointed downward towards the Faceless Men. Now looking, Colan realized he'd underestimated the size of the Faceless Men following him, as there were five of them, "Especially when the one in need is a boy as pretty as-" Colan stopped, and then felt the figure next to him go stiff, before he almost heard a shriek, "Cu?"

'She knows Da!' Colan tried to open his mouth to speak, but as he did so, he couldn't get any sound out. He could only wheeze a bit, as he tried to get his voice to open. Though, at least he was with another heroic spirit. One that seemed friendly.

He looked back, and felt a bit of surprise. She was very pretty, with slightly rounded cheeks and sharp blue eyes. Her light pink hair was swept to the side in an elaborate manner, and her dress was of a strange mix of red and blue silk coming down from her neck to below what he was able to see from his position. He could even feel her adjust her arm slightly beneath him so he wasn't hanging so much by his stomach, a way to give him comfort

Yet that she was such a beauty was not strange to him. Mata, Nitocris and Xuanzang most especially were incredibly beautiful. Even Jeanne Alter, for all that she was frightening, was a striking woman. No, it was rather that every time Colan blinked, it was as though this woman's face completely disappeared from his memory. When he opened his eyes, he could see she was there, and make out her features. But it was only when his eyes were on her. He took a second to look down, and as his eyes went to the crowd of Faceless Men beginning to climb up after them, he forgot her features once more.

"That would be how this is, wouldn't it," he heard her voice, and he looked at her again. This time, however, as he watched, he could see her eyes look down at him with a strange sadness. She wasn't mad, or angry, but…there was a look of defeat on her face, "This place, it keeps reminding me of better times," she sighed, pulling back Colan as she stepped back across the rooftop, "First a Drake that was a housewife," she shook her head, "And then a Cu who is just a boy."

'Da!' Colan tried to shout, but he still couldn't get his mouth to open. He watched as suddenly one of the Faceless Men jumped to the rooftop. A few seconds later, another appeared, and then another. Only a few seconds more, and suddenly all five of these assassins were standing with weapons drawn, glaring at Colan and his protector.

"Well," the woman adjusted her stance, "I suppose then, this is still something," she adjusted her blade, "I fight not just for the boy, but for the friends that are but memories to me," she then began to shout, "Come now, and face the blade of Miyomoto Musashi!"

The Faceless Men charged. Or rather, two of them at the front did, each having two short blades in their hands. To the left and the right, one more jumped out, and Colan guessed they were attempting to circle and attack from the side. They wouldn't be foolish enough to attack with anything less than overwhelming numbers.

Colan then felt a shift underneath him, and realized that Musashi wasn't going to let them try that. Instead, she charged forward, toward the two men right in front of them. She shot forward, aiming toward the one on her right, the one to her sword arm, and flicked her wrist, and brought her blade up, catching both of that man's knives with her sword. Unfortunately, that meant the one on her left had free reign to come closer.

And Colan just so happened to be on her left side.

'Oh come-' just before the Facelss Man could fall on her, Colan heard the sound of metal scraping on metal, and flicked his eyes back to Musashi's sword. Colan felt his jaw drop as Musashi slid the sword across the man's knives, not to the right as would be natural, but to the left-

"GRRK!"

Into the belly of the assailant that was bearing down on him. Colan watched as she cut into his stomach, slicing cleanly through it, and sending the Faceless man falling to his knees. Musashi then threw her hips and twirled. Colan, now spinning came to see that through her motion, the man she'd first met steel with was thrown slightly off balance. So, after completing her swirl, she stopped, and stabbed her sword forward, right through the left side of the man's chest. She then picked up a sandal wearing foot, and kicked, freeing the blade, and then turned back to face the flankers she had run past.

Those men had longer swords in comparison to the knives by the first two men. They were hanging back more, and Colan could feel their worry in the air. Musashi, the woman who had managed to pluck him out of the danger, almost seemed to bow, before looking up with a large smile, "So, which of you is nex-"

SHUNK

And then Colan felt Musashi stagger forward. He glanced back, and saw one of the two Faceless Men that had stayed where they were lower a small bow. Colan didn't have to look too far to realize that Musashi had been hit by an arrow from behind.

The two swordsmen charged forward. Musashi readjusted her feet, and then made several sword strikes, knocking away each of the Faceless Men. However, as they were all still standing, Colan had to guess she hadn't managed to slice into any of them.

'Damn,' he thought, his mind returning to the next arrow being readied to hit them, 'She seems to be weak to archers!'

"I'm sorry little boy," Colan blinked, as he heard the swordswoman chuckle slightly, "Looks like you will be my next," she shook her head, "And final failure," still, she brought her face up, a confident smile on her face, "I'm sorry Ritsuka, Chaldea," tears were flowing down her face, "Our last goodbye truly was our last, at the last moments of Olympus," but she readied her blade, "Now let this be my fina-"

"I KNOW RITSUKA!"

Colan blinked, hearing his voice call out. He didn't think he had the strength to speak, but somehow, on reflex, he said the first thing that came to mind. Musashi seemed to freeze for a second, as the two swordsmen raised their blades over her head, and then brought them downard.

And then, Colan felt the rush of wind, and they were behind the four. A second after that, an arrow shot by, Colan guessed that it had been aimed by the archer at the edge of the building. Colan then felt the arm holding him change position, and then, by the back of his shirt, he was dragged so his eyes met the swordswoman's.

Her eyes were wavering, waving back and forth. But they were almost sparkling too, like there was both fire and water in equal measure in them. He was held out far enough, that Colan could see the two swordsmen standing with their blades all in the ground where Musashi had just been standing.

"Really?" Musashi said with both glee and terror.

It was then that the two swordsmen began to fall…apart, as their bodies split open along clean cut lines. The piles of body parts began to mix and mangle along with their blades on the ground, from what had to be dozens of individual cuts by Musashi's blades.

"Yes," Colan croaked, it hurt very badly to speak. He could feel sweat form on the back of his head as her smile crept wider and wider, and the sparkles in her eyes seemed to shine as brighter than the stars above their heads.

"He he," she laughed, before suddenly pulling Colan into a very tight hug, "OH! OH WHAT A SWEET PRETTY LITTLE BOY YOU ARE!"

'Can't breathe!'

"OH! I CAN'T BELEIVE IT!" she began to twirl around like many of the girls he'd ever seen dancing in the streets, the giddy excitement a bit strange considering everything, "Oh, sweet little Cu boy," Colan would have to tell her his name after he finally could, "Why didn't you say you were with Ritsuka before?" she then stopped, and then looked back, at the remaining Faceless Man, both just staring at the piles of flesh that had been their companions, "Oh right!" she then reached back, and pulled something out of her back. She then smiled at the arrow for a moment, and then flicked her wrist.

The Faceless man with the bow's head flew backward, sending his whole body flying off the building and into the road below.

"So," Colan was quite sure now that yes, this was undeniable a heroic spirit. As he looked into Musashi's still sparkling eyes, he heard her ask, "Where i-"

"Out," Colan hacked. His throat was still so sore. He tried to move his arms and legs, but they were still so bruised and torn by the magic he'd used that he could only barely get his voice out, "Outcast I," he coughed again, but already he felt himself suddenly heaped over the swordswoman's shoulder."

"Outcast Inn!" Musashi shouted, "Oh, this is the greatest day of my life!" she began to jog in place for a second, smiling as she did so, "Or afterlife, I should say," she then laughed, and Colan felt even more sweat bead onto the back of his head. Then, he felt the feet stop moving, and rather adjust into a sprinters stance, "HANG ON!"
And then they were flying through the air. Colan could only watch below, as they sailed over the last canal between them and the Outcast Inn. Musashi's gait was even faster than he had been when he'd been with the mana burst. As he felt the wind begin to hit his face, he, for a moment, just began to ignore the pain in his limbs, and enjoyed the feeling of where he was, and what he was doing.

'I have to get better at using magic,' he thought, just as they landed, 'So…I can do this all the time.'

"Alright!" Musashi pointed a bit to the South, "Only a few more jumps," she looked back with the single largest grin on her he'd yet seen, "What do you say we hit the roof first?"
Colan, still having trouble speaking, simply nodded.

"Here we go!"

It took only two more jumps, and they were on the roof of the Outcast Inn. After everything, it was nice for the last bit to have been so easy. As Musashi's feet hit the shingles, Colan let loose a sigh of relief. They were safe. All they had to do was get inside and the-

"You know!" Musashi shouted, causing Colan to blink, "You'd think you all would have hidden your ambush better for a group called the Faceless Men," Colan blinked, and only then did he see movement. Not just on the rooftops, but along the different sets of windows. The glint of short pointed metal shining in the moonlight, "You all must think you are very clever with this huh?" she announced, "Waiting for the Servants of Chaldea to emerge to try and stop whatever sinister plot you had!"

And then at least twenty arrow were shot into the sky, towards the top of the rooftop of the Inn, and Colan almost groaned, towards them. Colan waited for Musashi to ready her sword to parry the incoming arrows, but she just remained still, her sword in her scabbard, her other arm around his waist. As the arrows got closer, Colan felt just a bit of fear.

Until a massive form appeared in front of them. A second later, a red pole snapped into existence, and began to spin so fast it seemed to create a perfect red shield. He spun it above his head, and then, as the arrows came in, the projectiles were knocked away. After the last of them had been sent lazily to the ground, the figure stood up even taller.

"Always the loud one, eh Musashi?" Da's voice finally made Colan lose control, as he could feel tears begin to pour from his eyes. After running back there, he never thought he'd get to see his father again. Part of him, somewhere deep down, wanted to hide, to not call out. But Colan couldn't help but open his mouth and call out.

"Da!"

Da then turned to look back at them, and his eyes seemed to widen, and he got a big grin on his face, "COLAN! YOU'RE OKAY!" he rushed forward, Gae Bold hanging along his back. He reached over, and grabbed Colan in his arms, "Gods, I'm sorry about…being a shit head," Colan didn't care, as he was too busy forcing his shaking arms around his Da's neck.

"Oh!" Colan could hear Musashi's voice in the background, "That boy is your son Cu!" Colan continued to hold onto his father as the tall man stood up, "Oh, man, I have to tell you, you are a sight for sore eyes," then, Cu reached out his hand, and Colan could feel the evil of the demon spear appear again, "Though unfortunately, we are going to have to catch up in a moment," Colan looked up, and saw figures appearing also on the rooftops, "Because we have company."

The Faceless Men were coming with their blades bared. All of them were hanging back in formation, none diving forward like they had on the rooftop before. Colan had to guess that it was due to knowing that they were fighting Heroic Spirits now, instead of merely some strange woman, 'Though,' Colan thought, 'They should have realized it when Musashi jumped up on the roof.'

"So?" Da asked aloud, "How ya been Musashi?" he twirled Gae Bolg for a second.

"Oh, been better," Musashi chuckled, pulling her blade out, "Ever since, well you know," she waved her hand, "well, I've been wandering around this place for months," she then hitched her blade, and pulled back into a defensive stance, "And, well, tonight's been really cool, you know seeing you guys, going all hiyah on these guys," the way she waved her hand dismissively toward the oncoming assassins seemed to agitate the crowd further, "But, uh, I"m not exactly operating at full strength, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Da nodded, "Well, we'll see if we can do something about that," a second later, he then pointed his spear downward, "First, I think we'll need to finish these ones off if we're going to get down below," he then rolled his eyes, "There were about two dozen of these freaks in the buildings around us. They've been coming in all day, thought they were being stealthy, but once you start just seeing the pure amount of them, it was easy to guess they were going to try something," he then pointed at himself, "Why I was up here so quick. I got guard duty to keep an eye on them."

Then Da rushed forward, and Colan saw a flurry of red. He then felt the momentum of a jump back to the previous position, and blinked. He looked over at Gae Bolg, and saw two Faceless Men impaled through their necks, most blinking but otherwise unmoving.

"Though, let me tell you, I have been waiting to rip these fuckers apart for hours."

"You are still terrifying," Musashi laughed. She then lunged, and was suddenly hanging between two of their opponents. She swung her sword around, and cut cleanly through their necks. She landed on her feet, and then turned, dodged one faceless man coming at her while swiping through both of his elbows, and then kicked the now armless man into two others that were staring dumbly, sending all three over the edge. She then turned, slicing upward, and cutting a man apart at his waist as he ran at her. As the man's torso fell over the side, Musashi then stood up, and placed the edge of her sword on her shoulder.

"Oh, you are one to talk," Da said, waving his spear in the air, and causing the four men on it to fly off into the air. The other Faceless Men all took a step back. They slowly seemed to begin to group together, weapons out and pointing toward them, Da laughed, "Hey, do you want to break this or…"

"I think you should," Musashi's voice was suddenly strained. Colan looked, and saw that, despite standing, the woman was clearly in some kind of pain. She was moving more slowly, her body catching in places. She let out an audible wince as she fell to one knee.

"Wow, you really are kind of out of it," Da said, "we'll have to fix that," he aimed his spear over at the growing mass of men, perhaps twelve or so, "Though, I think we'll need to have these freaks handled before we can get down to Ritsuka."

"Ritsuka," there was a laugh in Musashi's voice, "You have no idea how good it is to hear that name," she shook, "Is there anyone else besides you two?" the mass of men slowly moved together, their weapons pointed in a shell of steel directly at them as they moved. She readied her blade, though she did not appear to be ready for more of the acrobatics she'd shown so far, "We could really use some help."

"Well for one," Cu laughed, as he saw them take a step quite deeply into the middle of the roof, "You just have to watch."

CRACK

Colan blinked, as he heard the distinct sound of wood being smashed apart. He looked at the middle of the mass of men, and saw two hands sticking up out of the roof. Two rather dainty hands were wrapped around the ankles of one of the men in the very middle of the crowd. Colan watched, as the man's eyes widened, before suddenly, he began to fall.

CRAAAAAiIIISSHSHSHSH

Through the roof.

And taking the entire crowd with him as the whole structure collapsed from beneath them. For the next few seconds, there was silence. And there was a flurry of activity, as Colan heard screaming, yelling, bones breaking, metal cutting into flesh, and what sounded like at least one fire igniting beneath the roof. Colan could only stare dumbly at the hole, before turning to Da, who simply shrugged at the whole thing.

"Well," Da laughed, "I say we see if they need any help," he then walked over the the whole, and then simply hopped down. Colan had to close his eyes while they passed through the dust, while hearing Da say, "Well, knew they probably wouldn't need it."

Colan blinked. He looked around, and saw a whole mess of bodies strew around what had once been a rather rich room. Two of them were laying with their heads twisted completely around. Several corpses were burning while singing couches beneath them. At least one of the Faceless Men had been impaled by their own sword. Colan watched as one of the last moving of their opponents was lifted into the air, face bruised and bleeding, by the same pair of delicate hands that had caused the roof to fall in.

"May the Buddha grant you pea-" Colan's ear's immediately perked on hearing Xuanzang's voice. The monk, realizing that someone else had appeared, looked over toward them, and her eyes immediately widened, a huge smile covering her face, "COLAN!" she shouted, before tossing the man in her grasp to the side.

And out the open window.

"It is so good to see you, Colan!" she shouted, rushing towards them as sweat beaded on the back of Colan's head, "I am so sorry," she rushed up, and grabbed his hand, "I should have been more honest with you from the beginning, so it wouldn't ge-"

"It's okay," Colan managed to say, though it still really hurt to speak. Xuanzang stopped, before her eyes began to water, while she forced a very large smile on her face. She nodded at Colan, before lightly touching his shoulder, "I'm so-"

"Not that this isn't touching," Colan stopped, and turned to his right. Jeanne Alter was standing over another one of the burning corpses, with a fifth one having been burnt into a stain along the wall behind her, "But, could you please tell us what the hell is happening?" she pointed to her side at the monk, "All I know is that the monk shouted at us to come up, and so I had to follow her up here, and in five minutes we're having to take this crew apart," her thumb then changed direction, towards the other side of the door, "which means we are probably going to have some explaining to do."

"What?" Colan looked, and saw one of the young men from the Stormlands who had been following his father around like a puppy, staring slack jawed from the doorway, a pretty girl with long black hair covering her mouth at his side, staring at the carnage, "What is happening here?" he looked up, and saw Da, and then asked, "Ser Cu, I must ask why you all burst down into our ro-"

"Yo!" Da raised a hand up with a slight wave, "Mathos, good to see you again," he then blinked, "Oh, just some Faceless Men trying to pull of an ambush we managed to spring," if it could, the Onion boy's jaw dropped even further, "Yeah, they were going to try and kill us the next time we went out, but we handled them," he pointed down, "Sorry about messing up your little nest…but wait, didn't your father tell you to stay on the ship."

"Well," Mathos coughed, while suddenly the pretty girl at his side looked away, "You see, Eranaua," the girl seemed to shrink even further, "She…she asked for my help," he rubbed the back of his head, "She was…she was supposed to get some things from me that I didn't give her, and that meant she was not allowed to retu-"

"Coming down!" the young man's explanation was cut off by the sound of Musashi's voice. Colan heard her land behind them, though there was a slight wince at the landing. A second later, he heard her stand up, and then she said, "Xuanzang!" the monk seemed to almost bounce, as a recognition came over her face, "Jalter!" And at that, Jeanne Alter's head fell to the side while she groaned.

"Of course she'd use that name," the witch whined.

"Musashi!" the monk shouted. She immediately rushed past Colan and his Da, and then he heard a massive squeeze, and a crack from behind him, "It's wonderful to see you again my friend!"

"TOO TIGHT!"

"Musas-" Colan blinked, turning to his Da, who shook his head, "Damnit," Colan then realized that his Da was going through the same thing he had when he'd first seen Musashi again. The sudden disconnect, that was only really overcome by the pure volume of exposure Colan had had. Da reached up, and slapped his head for a moment, before he turned around. This allowed Colan to see that Xuanzang was giving Musashi a massive hug, and that it appeared that the pink haired woman was about to snap in half from the pure amount of force that was being given in that embrace, "Oi, Musashi, something's really weird with you," it was only then that Xuanzang suddenly blinked, and loosened her grip, allowing the swordswoman to fall to her feet, "You know why I almost forgot you were here a moment ago?"

"Ah," Musashi sighed, "Even now, I'm disconnected," she shook her head, a sad smile on her face, "Lost," she stood up, "I…I don't believe I'm supposed to exist anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ritsuka!" Colan shouted. He was finally starting to get his voice back. He turned his head around on Da's shoulder, and smiled when he saw their leader stick his head through the door. Colan smiled, and turned back to Musashi-

And blinked at woman's wide eyes and open mouth.

"Ritsuka?" she asked, but not…with familiarity.

"Musashi!" Ritsuka said, a clear warmth in his voice, "Man, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," he ran past the two…people who weren't part of the team, and then walked up to Musashi, "Man, I haven't seen you since Shimosha," he laughed, "But I should have known tha-" he stopped then, while looking at Musashi.

The swordswoman was just staring at Ritsuka in utter disbelief. For a moment, the two just stood there, staring at one another, before Musashi reached up, and rubbed the side of her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and instead she closed it a moment later, before shaking her head.

"What is this?" she finally asked, "You…you can't be Ritsuka," she said with a well held certainty. This caused all the other servants eyes to widen, and then look at each other in shock, "I mean, you just can't," she wiped her hand over Ritsuka's chest, "I knew Ritsuka, and she…well, you can't be her. You look almost completely different," she shook her head, "Besides the obvious."

"...wait, you are a Musashi…that ran into a girl RItsuka?" he asked. Musashi, now silent, could only nod at that. Rtisuka raised his hand up, and slowly scratched his skin, "That…well, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised there is a female version of me running around in some timeline," he then looked at Musashi, while giving her a shrug, "You know, considering."

"Bu-" Musashi moved her head around frantically. She looked at the other Heroic Spirits, trying to get them to agree with her, that this was clearly wrong…but when they were instead looking at her like she was crazy, tears began to well up in her eyes, "This-I thought-I was supposed to-"

"Listen," Ritsuka reached up both his hands in a placating manner, "I get it, this has got to be strange," Musashi just looked at him while he continued to speak, "I can see that you are really low on mana at the moment. You must be exhausted, and suddenly, instead of seeing the person you are familiar with, you see m-"

And then, in the background, a scream shot through the air. Then another, and another. Ritsuka turned towards where the screaming was coming from, outside to the room, and everyone quickly followed behind him. Colan could only watch as Musashi stayed completely still, before slowly following behind them.

Very soon, at the large window in the main room, they could all see the Northern Edge of Braavos. And it seemed to be on fire. Colan could only blink for a moment, before finally it clicked again in his mind.

"Their plan's started!" he said. Everyone looked over at him, "That mage Mairu," almost instantly the whole group groaned, "he's been planning something with Euron Greyjoy," at that, both Da and the Onion Knight's son furrowed their brow.

"Huh," Da growled, "That fucker's here."

"He says he's Foreigner," Colan spoke up, "He was the one who caught me after I ran a few nights ago," and then, Da's body became more rigid, and Colan could hear a snarl from his father, "Euron's gotten most of the pirates to betray Captain Drake, and then he is going to let them raid and plunder the harbors of Braavos as a thank you, while Mairu tries to take control of-" he stopped, blinking, before shouting in shock, "NITOCRIS!"

"Nitocris?" he wasn't sure who asked.

"She was captured with me too!" Colan said, and that got everyone's attention, "She gave me magic to get away," he spoke up, "We have to get to her! She's being held over by the Temple Islands."

"Wait, okay," Ritsuka pointed at Colan, "So, Nitocris is being held hostage by that mage from Pentos," Colan nodded, and Ritsuka began to bare his teeth, "And, if I get this right, the pirates are attacking the Harbors," he looked north, "Shit, we got a bunch of problems."

"Father," Colan could hear the worry in the voice of Mathos. Colan watched as the young man grabbed the strange girl's hands, and then said, "Era," he said, and the girl looked up to him, "Please wait here, I have to go and get to the Stag. I need to warn Lord Baratheon and my father. They may be in great danger if they are left unprepared."

"Good," Ritsuka nodded, causing the Stormlander to look at him in confusion, "Cu, go with him. See if you can get Mata to get ready to try and protect the inn while you head out too."

"What?"

"The pirate attacks on the ports are a problem, and we can't just let them get away with slaughtering innocent people," Ritsuka said, "And if they are being put up to this by a Foreigner Servant, than something really dangerous is happening that those raids are a part of," he stopped, "Xuazang, can you get to the Northern Harbor, they probably need help up there too!"

"Of course," Xuanzang gave a bow.

"Great," Ritsuka then looked at Colan, "You know where that guy is keeping Nitocris right?"

"Yes," Colan nodded.

"Great," Ritsuka smirked, "We need to make sure we free her and get her back to our side. Not only will that lead to us saving her and probably Emiya, but it will also mean we will have a clear advantage in fire power," he then smiled, "You'll need to lead us there," he gestured to Jeanne Alter and himself, "Can you do that Colan."

Colan could still feel the strain over his limbs. But, after everything else he'd dealt with the past hour or so, he smiled, and gave a nod. At least this time, he'd be the one attacking, rather than the one being attacked. Ritsuka smiled at that nod, before standing up.

"We need to get moving now!" Ritsuka declared, and suddenly, Colan felt himself hit the floor. He looked up to his Da, who didn't seem that happy, but he turned, and grabbed Seaworth by the shoulder. Colan's father dragged the younger man behind him, leaving the young woman near him to stare at the suddenly empty door. Colan looked back, and saw the window had been knocked open. Already he saw Xuanzang bounding north, and he could only nod at the strength in her movements.

"Okay," Ritsuka declared, "Now, Musashi?"

Colan looked back at Musashi. She was staring into the distance, her eyes almost blank. At the call of her name, she looked to her right, directly into Ritsuka's face. The young man smiled, and then held out his hand.

"I don't…I don't know what you experienced with that other Ritsuka," he tried to be as calm in his voice as possible, "It…it seems like something weird happened, and I know it probably hurt you," Musashi's face went blank, before tears began to form again, while she pulled up a sad smile on her lips, "But right now, I could really use your help to save some of my friends," Ritsuka then held out his hand in front of her, and then asked, "So…Musashi, would you be willing to become my servant?"

For a second, the hand just hung in the air.

"Yes."

But it was only for a second, as the swordswoman's hand came up and snatched him up. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Colan had to cover his eyes. When he opened them again…he could see Musashi in full. Even when he closed his eyes, he no longer felt like he was already forgetting her. It was like…like…

Like something that had been lost was now found.

"Okay," Ritsuka held out his other hand toward the witch, "Jeannette?" the woman glared at him, before shaking her head, and then reaching and taking up this other hand. Musashi, on the other hand, blinked, before suddenly smiling a bit more arrogantly than before, leaning forward so she could look Jeannette directly in the eye.

"Jeannette huh?"

"Say a word and I'll fry you like burnt Udon," the witch growled.

"Musashi," Ritsuka spoke up, interrupting them before the two could begin a real argument, "Could you grab Colan?"

"I'd be glad to," Musashi suddenly snatched up Colan's hand, "Now, why don't you tell me where we need to jump?"

"Ummm," Colan gave a look to Ritsuka, who shrugged. Colan then nodded, and pointed, "One of the buildings on the NorthEast Corner of this island, just south of the Canal of Heroes, and just west of the Temples," he tried to rack his brain for the actual building, "I can tell you which one it is when we arrive."

"Alright then," Musashi stepped back, "Now hang on everyone," she smiled, "Because here, we go!"

And then, Colan found himself flying through the air once more.