Hi and welcome back everybody to the beggining of chapter 22 of the story! So get on a comfortable sitting position and let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.
As a new day had come, the Chaldea group now resided in Emperor Nero's palace where it would be their main headquarters during their time in this Singularity. It was nice to have a stable base instead of having to always flee or change camp. Even better if the base was a huge palace from a powerful and wealthy ally. It helped in having now a giant army supporting them and not fighting them. The start of their mission this time was looking smoothly. This day would serve as a reorganizment of Nero's troops and preparation to do their next move on Mount Etna, where the enemy Caligula resided at the moment. In order to get ready for that confrontation, the Chaldea group was now training at a small training camp just outside of the palace.
"Wow! That was fast!" Nala exclaimed as she was doing a fighting session with another woman who was also one of Nero's subordinates. The woman herself had an asian look and wore a white kimono with flower patterns. Her eyes were sharp and her black hair was tied into a long and thin ponytail. The woman's nails were painted in a greyish tone and she also wore sandals. She was one of the emperor's generals.
"Thanks! Your reflex was also decent." The woman smiled. "But it can be better."
Nala smirked and rubbed her nose. "I know. Don't think I'm satisfied enough for making that block." She pointed her sword at the woman. "I plan to grow more skilled!" "And reach to that speed again." "So come, Jing Ke!" Nala called the woman by her name.
Jing Ke, the legendary and famous chinese assassin who was most known for her failed assassination attempt at the chinese emperor of her time, Qin Shi Huang. But that wasn't all of the female assassin. Jing Ke also loved reading, mainly poems, talk with friends, most of whom were wise and drink large quantities of alcohol, the last one being the thing she loved doing the most. For the short time the Chaldea group met her in the morning, they could see she was a nice person to hang around with.
"I'm happy to hear that." Jing Ke laughed. "Show me what you got!" And she and Nala went to clash again, continuing the training.
On the sidelines, Ritsuka was watching the fight with Seneca. Romani's hologram was also there watching it.
"I can't believe that Jing Ke, an assassin famous for trying to kill an emperor, is serving an emperor!" Romani said in bewilderment. "It's just weird."
Seneca chuckled. "The world is a strange place my magical friend. But Jing Ke's servitude is the result of the great and influential charisma that Nero causes on the others." The old man stated. "For her, it's an honour to serve such emperor. Besides, Jing Ke is a great company to chat with. She told me many great scripts from the Far East that were unknown to me. A good and cultured friend if I say so. Also a good drinker." Seneca said. For a man like him, Jing Ke's company was equal to great times discussing things. It expanded the roman philosopher's horizon in knowing there was also other philosophers from another part of the world.
"But Nala seems to not wanting to get behind." Ritsuka smiled. "She's really trying to keep up." He remembered of the conversation he had with Nala at the garden on the previous night. "An energetic kid like you will go to places Nala."
"She has a great ambition and energy for the looks of it." Seneca closed his eyes, thinking. "After all, ambition is like the wind. We need it to get the ship moving. Without it, we will never reach anywhere."
"How many of your toughts do you turn into philosophy quotes?" Romani asked him genuinely.
"That is a philosopher's job my friend. To think about our lives and try to find mean it. The quotes can be seen as advices on how to enjoy it better." Seneca explained to the doctor.
"And what advice do you think I should follow to live my life to the fullest Seneca-san?" Ritsuka askes to the old man, who just smiled and put an hand on his shoulder.
"None, young man. Be the master of your own destiny and the maker of your own choices." Seneca smiled gently to Ritsuka. "These advices are only tips to help you. If you try too hard to follow them, you will never live your life freely. Instead, live naturally and the way you think life should be spent. I am no owner of you to tell you how to act, feel and behave. You'll do that yourself."
"Hehe. No wonder why you are a philosopher." Romani giggled.
Ritsuka just stared at the old senator, in wonder of Seneca's words. They felt powerful and meaningful to the ears of the young master. "So this is how a wise man thinks..." Ritsuka smiled. "Geez! I almost forgot what it was like to talk with an elder. Oh! No offense Seneca-san."
Seneca cackled and raised his hand a little. "No offense taken."
Meanwhile, other fighting sessions were happening simultaneously to Nala and Jing Ke's training.
"Peko to your left!" Mash yelled at the boy who was narrowly able to dodge the hit of a big ironclad sword, wielded by a giant and muscular man who was dressed in gladiator clothes. He had a very greyish skin and short dirty blond hair who was tied into a tiny ponytail. The gladiator wouldn't stop smilling.
"Woah! Thanks Mash!" Peko told the shielder.
"Training your body and swordsmanship are the first crucial steps to overthrow the opressors!" The muscular man said excitedly. "Continue like that young warrior, and all the opressors that you might have in the future will fall!"
"...That's...very motivational of you Spartacus." Peko said with some nervous smile. "He is strong and helping me get better. Quite the tank and strong warrior. Altough a little bit obsessed with opression, opressors and etc."
"Let's try again boy!" Spartacus, the famous gladiator who would lead a revolution in the Roman Empire some years later from where this Singularity happens, with the goal of achieving freedom against his and his brotherly gladiators opressors. The man was known for being strong and resilient, fighting till the end despite of his wounds. His figure became one of praise among other gladiators who also seeked freedom at the time. Now as a servant of the Berserker class, Spartacus toughts were all about fighting the opression that hurted the opressed. Truly, seeing such rebellious figure now serving as a general of a roman emperor was a thing that many would consider weird and bizarre. Yet, it wasn't a lie. Spartacus was really serving what was once, his long life enemy.
"Do you always stay eager like that or only during a fight?" Peko asked with some concern and doubt of Spartacus mentality.
"Haha! When facing opression, you always have to stand courageous and sure of yourself! The eagerness also helps in facing the opressor face to face!" Spartacus explained, his smile staying impeccable. "Now let's try again! Those sword swings of yours need to get stronger, as well as your grip!"
"Understood!" Peko replied.
As for Mash, she also was training with other servant, altough this one wasn't capable of speech. Another giant and muscular man, except this one was wearing an chinese style armour, one that generals used. He also had short red hair and red feathers on his head. The man's eyes were fully white and his skin was of a light brown colour. He was Lu Bu, another chinese figure from the Three Kingdoms period, famously known for being a treacherous general, backstabbing and betraying anyone that he usually ended up siding with. It was weird to think that a historical character known for betraying would end up as a general of an empire's army.
Now thinking about it, all the three general servants of Nero had characteristics that every emperor would like to avoid when recruiting someone to his army. Yet they all served Nero with seemingly no complaint and rather okay with the idea of working under her.
"Lu Bu-san is attacking very wildly. Berserkers are good for training any blocks or defense with my shield. If I become able to stop his blows with little effort, my endurance will certainly grow for when having to deal with more powerful attacks." Mash said to herself, positioning her shield in attack mode. "Let's do it again, Lu Bu-san!" She told to the servant.
"Peko and Mash are also giving their best in training." Romani said. "Altough I don't know it would be okay to let a Berserker be Peko's opponent since he is still new to fighthing." The doctor said with some apprehension.
"I think Spartacus knows how to hold himself despite all that enjoyment in fighting." Ritsuka tried to calm Romani.
Seneca nodded in response. "Altough a Berserker, Spartacus holds himself well." The philosopher then looked to the side. "When not fighting opressors that is..." He whispered.
"Hey! Seneca! Apprentice Ritsuka!" The voice from Nero drew the attention from the two and also Romani. The three saw Nero entering the training camp with a clean piece of wood and a wodden cup of red paint. She seemed very happy. "See this beautiful art that is in the making by me, umu!"
"Apprentice Ritsuka?" Ritsuka tought how weird it was that Nero all of a sudden decided to call him an apprentice.
"Oh is that she sees you and the rest of your groups as mage apprentices while Dr.Roman is your master." Seneca explained with a smile. "She has quite the creativity."
Romani crossed his arms with a smug. "Hm hm. Did you heard that Ritsuka? I'm your master."
"As if I would care about that!" Ritsuka exclaimed, trying to shut down Romani's smugness.
"Quiet now!" Nero told them. "Instead, see this amazing work that I, the emperor, have been so tiredly working on." As she said that, Nero turned the wooden piece around, revealing her painting. Somewhat a red flower. Or at least it looked like that. Ritsuka and Romani couldn't fully understand the painting since it was obvious that Nero wasn't all of a great paintor.
"Is that suppose-"
"Great work indeed my emperor." Seneca interrupted Ritsuka. "Such talent and emotion expressed in that piece of yours. I can't wait to see the finish product my emperor."
"Thank you Seneca." Nero smiled and laughed like a child that just had received a good grade. "I can always count on you for a wise opinion, umu!" She said happily to her advisor. "And what do you think Apprentice Ritsuka?"
"Hum..." Ritsuka tought carefully on what he would say next. "I think it's pretty good my emperor."
"I know right?" Nero said, putting an hand on her chest and smilling proudly. "However, pretty good or great aren't enough for a person like me! The most talented of individuals need to produce the most perfect of works, umu!"
"You are right my emperor." Seneca said. "As a senator, I plan to eventually organize an art exposition of your works for all Rome to see one day." He told to Nero in a appealing voice.
"Yay! Just like I always dreamed haha!" Nero then went to sat in a corner and continue her painting. "Look out world! It will arrive the time when you will discover the genius of Nero Claudius!"
Seneca gave a small smile as he saw Nero returning to her work. Ritsuka couldn't help but to smile a bit also. Perhaps Nero wasn't all that bad.
"Hey now that I think of it..." Romani stared at Seneca. "You never were a senator. Some even disliked you. It got to a point where you got exiled! So why and how did you become a senator now?!" Romani questioned the old man, noticing how some historical aspect of Seneca didn't make sense in this Singularity.
"I was asked to come back as a request to help and guide the emperor when she was younger." Seneca explained. "The motive of my exile is that politics are always a dangerous topic." Seneca sigh. "People controlled by power will always try to take down someone who they fear it might take that power away from them. Nero's mother that married to the previous emperor was the one who made the request. She saw my capacity in guiding her child. Heh, however a cunning woman in the end."
"So you were hated by everyone in the senate?" Ritsuka asked with some curiosity, seein this as an opportunity to know more about the old man.
"Majority yes. I was even despised by Caligula of all things." Seneca chuckled. "That man was never able to stand criticism. However I also had some friends and supporters in the senate. Wandering on the philosophical and political path gives you some intresting people to meet." Seneca closed his eyes. "Good times of debate with actual understanding and intelectual people."
"Still, how did you become a senator?" Romani asked him with some inpatience.
"And those friends of yours in the senate? Do you see them often? When it will be the next reunion of the senate? I myself ain't much of a guy for politics but it would be nice to see how roman debates were handled." Ritsuka said with a smile, willing to know more and explore the roman culture.
Seeing the enthusiasm of the teen, Seneca's lips slightly twisted into a smile as he closed his eyes and let out a 'hphm'. "There isn't anymore debates to have..."
"Huh?" Ritsuka reacted in confusion to Seneca's response.
The old man raised is head and opened his eyes. Despite of the smile, the eyes of Seneca told another thing, as if he wanted to cry.
"I'm the only one that there is left..."
"!!" Ritsuka's eyes widened in shock. "W-what does he mean by that?"
Even Romani wasn't expecting such thing. "H-hey. Are you implying that..."
"Eventually I entered the senate and became a senator myself in order to keep control and order of the things in Rome. I'm the one that generally handles all the aspects of the city and in charge of resolving it's problems. Nero is more turned to the military and cultural side of the empire." Seneca stared at Nero who was happily painting her work. "I for some time felt lonely in being the remaining senator. Even those I didn't like made me miss them. Whether it was to hear the most stupid opinions ever or just to prove our own perspective of things. Hehe, they were quite the memorable fools..." Seneca smiled sadly.
"Then what happened to them?" Ritsuka asked to Seneca, feeling bad for the old man.
"Let's just say, that fear and conspiracies lead to the end of many." Seneca got up from his seat, wanting to finsih that topic quickly. "Now then, I guess I'll take this time to stretch my arms a bit." The philosopher said as he walked into the training arena.
"What is he saying with that?" Romani scratched his head.
"Uff! That was close!" Peko said as he cleaned the face from sweat after blocking an attack from Spartacus. He almost felt his wrist breaking. "I clearly need to get more prepared for the weapons impact in the future, or else I'll be stunned easily."
"Gotcha!" Jing Ke exclaimed as she hit Nala on the shoulder altough not in a fatal or harmful way for the girl.
"Aw damnit!" Nala exclaimed, unhappy with herself. "You hit me first again. I can barely even scratch you from how fast you move." She said, pointing out the woman's abilities.
"Heh. Assassin's agility you know? Need to be quick and with fast moves when doing an assassination." Jing Ke smiled. "But keep like that and you will eventually have some quick reflexes too."
"Thank's! I'll be sure to keep training!" Nala smiled back to the assassin.
"Ggh!" Mash grunted as she blocked a strong blow from Lu Bu, making her feet get dragged some meters away. By the end, she was also sweating too. "I'm okay Lu Bu-san!" Mash said to the chinese Berserker. "This was probably he's strongest attack until now. I'll need to do better than this!"
Seneca who had entered the small arena, clapped for the three's effort. "Very well done, all of you! It's clear that you already have some fighting experience even if little. I see potential."
Mash smiled. "Thank you Seneca-san."
"I'm trying my best, but even then I don't feel satisfied." Nala said with her mood a bit down.
"Well, I think I have gotten a little better with this." Peko said, altough with not much joy in order to not make his sister feel bad.
"That is good to hear." Seneca stared at Nala. "And is also good to strive for a better improvement of ourselves."
"Well I guess. The more powerful the better, right?" Nala asked to the old man.
Seneca crouched down. "To protect and help others yes. But beware young girl. Power can be the servant of a wise person or the master of a fool." He told to Nala. "The same goes to you young boy." Seneca said to Peko. "Always keep your morals and things that you cheerish inside your minds."
"Understood Seneca-san! Thank you for the advise." Peko smiled to the old man.
"Same. I'll make sure of that!" Nala said to Seneca, a little bit more fired up than before.
"You have quite the choice of words Seneca-san." Mash commented.
"Thank you Ms.Kyrielight." Seneca nodded gently. "However, I need to do some exercise now. My body is feeling a bit rusty you know?"
"Wait! You wanna fight us?" Nala asked, not expecting such old man as Seneca proposing to fight them in a training session.
"Yes I do. Emperor Nero!" Seneca called for Nero who was still painting her work.
"What is it Seneca?" She took her eyes out of her own painting for a second, looking at her advisor.
"Will you grant me permission to participate in this training session with the newcomers?" Seneca asked politely.
"Hmmmmm. Sure! Give your best Seneca! I'll be cheering for you!" Nero yelled energetically, showing the support for her advisor.
"Thank you my praetor." Seneca bowed in respect, before dismissing te three general servants, with him and the members of the Chaldea group being the only ones in the arena now. "Anyways, I guess I'll start with the basic." Seneca took out a scroll from his bag.
"What is he gonna do?" Ritsuka wondered, watching the senator with attention alongside Romani's hologram.
"Seneca-san isn't a servant nor was he a fighter. But he knows some magic spells. So we need to be careful with him." Mash prepared her shield in combat mode.
"Heh." Seneca smirked, putting the scroll in front of his face.
"Gladius."
The scroll reacted to the philosopher's words and started to shine a pure gold. It didn't take many seconds for the scroll itself to open and unfold around it's owner. Then it's lenght reduced and it's shape transformed. The golden glow stopped and what was now in Seneca's hands was a well sharped and long roman sword with latin characters on it.
"He...He turned his scroll into a sword!" Peko exclaimed, surprised by the magic Seneca pulled off. "So that's what his scrolls can do."
"A lovely gift from my works on magic." Seneca said while slightly touching his fingers on the metal part of the blade. "Who knew such things like this were possible?" He laughed. "Now, are all of you ready?" Seneca asked the trio as he took out another scroll from his bag and pointed his sword to them.
Mash, Peko and Nala all looked at each other and made the decision in their minds.
"Sure!"
"Bring it!"
"I'm ready!"
With the little fight over, Seneca called back his last scroll as the trio from Chaldea finally saw as a signal that they could finally rest. All three were exhausted and painting. Despite not being a fighter, Seneca's spells were not short of being good. The power of elements that he could summon with his scrolls such as fire, earth, thunder and etc. was pretty amazing. But it isn't as if Seneca himself was all unscathed from the battle. The sweat was visible on his face and after calling back the scroll, the old man fell to his knees, completely tired.
"Hahaha." He couldn't stop of being happy however. "This...made me felt like a youngster again. Quite the...training to have my body acting like new again. Now I know...why people go so many times...to the colosseum."
Ritsuka and the other three servants entered the arena to see if they were all right.
"Are you all good? Anything broken?" Ritsuka asked to his friends.
"Just a...little bit..tired. That's all." Peko said between breaths.
"For a old man...he surely knows how to...give a proper fight." Nala said, cleaning the sweat from her face.
"True. Seneca-san...sure has his tricks." Mash said, stabilizing her own breath and her heartbeat calming down.
On the other side, Jing Ke was helping Seneca to get up. "Are you okay Seneca?" She asked him.
"Fortunately...no broken bone." The philosopher said. "Age really does not forgive." Seneca moved and stretched his body a little, to see if he was feeling any pain.
"Age is a great obstacle for men with ambitions and dreams! Slowing them down in the process with getting weaker and weaker! Aging is one of the worst opressors of all time!" Spartacus shouted to the year, being followed by a scream of Lu Bu.
"You two are complete airheads." Jing Ke critizise both berserkers as the Chaldea group approached all them.
"I have to say Seneca-san. You have nice skills of a mage. Didn't knew you could use your scrolls in that way." Mash complimented the man.
"While I'd say there's more powerful mages out there, you actually do very decently for someone who is not a servant." Romani also gave a little praise to Seneca.
"Hm. Why thank you-"
"Seneca! Seneca!" A scream from Nero erupted as they all saw her enter the arena with tears in her eyes and a body moviment telling that she wasn't happy with something.
The old man tought that she was worried for him during the battle, seeing that Nero was found of Seneca. Smilling, the advisor tried to comfort his emperor. "Oh don't worry my praetor! Exhaustence will not be the reason for my dea-"
"It isn't that!" Nero comically started to hit on Seneca's chest as the old man stood immobile and confused. "It's my red paint! I have no more of it to finish my work!" Tears started to appear from Nero's eyes. "Now how will I be a famous and lovable star who will receive the praise of everybody?"
"That's what she was worried about?" Everyone minus Seneca and the two berserkers said to themselves.
"There, there, calm down yourself Nero." Seneca gave some light taps on the emperor's back, as she would sob on his chest. "I think that I can still arrange some jar of red paint at the store if I go to the city now." He told her.
Nero's tears quickly dissapeard and she stared at her advisor euphorically. "R-Really!? Thank you so much Seneca!" Nero yelled happily. "My career as an artist is safe, umu!"
"Wait." Mash walked torwards the two. "Seneca-san must be tired from the fight he just had with us. I don't know if he should go to the city now instead of resting."
"I'd say Mash is right, my emperor and senator." Jing Ke agreed with Mash. "Seneca 's body should take some time to recover from the battle."
"Yeah. And with his age and all..." Ritsuka speaked as well.
"Hehe. I appreciate your value about my well being." Seneca told them. "But as the emperor's personal advisor, I-"
"It's all right Seneca." Nero said. "You need to rest."
Seneca was surprised by Nero's words. "But my emperor-"
"That's an order." Nero interrupted him. "You shouldn't push yourself hard all the time. Rest for now Seneca."
Taking a sigh, Seneca agreed with them. "If you say so, my emperor." He smiled gently to Nero.
"Then who will go to pick the paint instead?" Nala asked to everyone, since Seneca was out of question.
"I can go." Peko volunteered.
"Are you sure?" Nala asked him, deep inside not feeling okay with letting her brother go to the city alone. "You barely know Rome. You'd get lost."
"It's just getting some paint sis." Peko told her relaxed. "Give me some instructions or a map and I quickly do this. Besides..." Peko show Nala his sword. "I can defend myself now."
"He has a point." Romani commented.
"..." Not saying anything, Nala turned her head around to look at Ritsuka and Mash, hoping that they would have different opinions.
Ritsuka stared at Nala's eyes and saw how they pleaded for Ritsuka to not let Peko go to the city alone. The master of humanity knew how much Nala loved her brother, specially after last night. However, he also knew how much Peko wanted to become strong and how useless he felt at the beggining. So denying permission, would mean that Ritsuka didn't believe in Peko's capabilities. And Ritsuka wouldn't risk in putting the boy's mood down again. "I'm sorry Nala but I think Peko can do this with no problem. As a leader, I trust him and give him permission to go to the city."
While Nala slightly lowered her head, Peko stared at Ritsuka with a huge smile. "Thank you Ritsuka!"
"What about you Mash?" Nala asked the shielder.
"I also think Peko is capable of doing this. Just give him a little bit of trust Nala." Mash told to the other female member of the group.
"I'll be okay Nala. I promise." Peko put an hand on her sister's shoulder, giving her a small smile.
Seeing that the decision was made, Nala just sighed. "Fine then." She smiled back to her brother. "Just be sure to return before the sun goes down, understood?"
Peko nodded. "Crystal clear sis." He then walked torwards Seneca. "Say where does that painting store is located and I'll be on my way."
Now in the middle of the city, Peko seeked for the painting store, looking at everywhere to see if he found something indicating a painting store.
"Hmm. Seneca said it was a bit ahead from here." Peko put himself on tiptoes, trying to see anything in the front of the huge crowd. Nothing. There was many people for Peko to see anything ahead. This is how a big city felt like.
"Dang it! With all these people it will take some time for me to spot the painting store." Peko realized that perhaps it would take some time to do this task. The boy looked at a small bag of golden coins that Seneca gave him. "If someone tries to rob me, my sword will be enough for them to run away."
As Peko was busy with his own toughts, he didn't noticed someone approaching him.
"Hey."
Peko, caught by surprise, immediatly jumped in a scare as he turned around to look at who was calling him.
"W-what do you want?! I know how to-" Peko stopped at his failed attempt of a threat as he saw that it was just two boys with the same age as he. "O-oh."
"Hahaha. Are you okay in the head or something?" One of the boys laughed.
"You seem lost too. First time here?" The other boy asked him.
"Yeah it is. I'm trying to look for a painting store, but with all this people it will be kinda difficult." Peko told the two boys what he was here for.
Without Peko noticing, the two street boys looked mischievously at each other, with a plan in mind.
"We know a shortcut that can make your trip to the painting store easier." One of the boys told Peko as the second one tried to contain a laugh.
"Really you do?" Peko asked, oblivious of the two kids intention.
"Yeah. Follow us!" One of them said as they gestured Peko to come with them.
After some seconds of running and trying to keep up with the other two boys, Peko finly stopped as they reached to the location of the shortcut.
"It's right here." One of them said, pointing at a small barricade that was covered by a huge white sheet with a giant red painted 'X' on it. The barricade was blocking the passage to a narrow alley that seemed to have seen better days. It was clear that the passage was forbidden to anyone.
"I think we aren't allowed to go there." Peko said, suspecting the decaying aspect of the alley and the existence of a barricade.
"Ah! It's nothing really." One of the boys tried to dismiss it.
"Yeah. The place is just under a rebuilding process. Just turn two times to the right and then one to the left and you'll exit right in front of the painting store." The other one said.
"...Okay then." Peko said, choosing to believe in the words of the two boys. He had no reason to believe they meant any harm to him or anything like that. They were just kids like him after all. And it would help if this was really a shortcut. Peko started to climb the barricate, not being that hard since it wasn't that tall either. "Thank you for the help you two. Bye!" Peko waved to the two boys goodbye as they waved back at him.
Once Peko had dissapeard from their vision, the two boys started to walk away from the place and laugh.
"Pfahahahaha! What an idiot! He really believed in us!" One of the boys said.
"That guy must be the stupidest idiot I've ever seen!" The other one mocked Peko. "I wonder how much time he will spent going in circles there?"
"I give him a minute to start crying for his mommy hahahaha!"
Already passing to the other side Peko now focused on remembering the directions the boy had given him. The smell of rotten quickly invaded his nostrils.
"Urgh!" Peko recoiled in disgust. "Is this the smell of sewers or something?"
Trying to ignore it, Peko walked more deeply into the alley. No matter where he looked at, every corner of the alley was dirty as hell, needing some serious cleaning. Rotten and spoiled food in the ground that attracted flies and rats as well as houses and buildings in awful condition. Not even the light of the sun could shine through the roofs of this area. It was completely different from the vibrant and glorious Rome Peko had saw previously. But that wasn't all.
"H...Hey...you there..." A voice weakly called for Peko. Looking at who said that, Peko saw a palid and sick man lying in front of a door, much probably to his own house. The man was completely skinny, his skin incredibly dry and contracted, with the shape of his bones showing against his skin. The clothes he was wearing were totally in the worst conditions possible, ragged and dirty. And his hair was almost entirely gone.
The sick man extended his scrawny arm torwards Peko. "A..Are you...Emperor Nero? D...Did you come...to save us..?" The man asked, confunding Peko for Nero. He almost acted more like zombie than a human.
Already frightened, Peko decided to say nothing and instead walk fast and away from the man. Now there it was the why for no one being authorized to enter here.
"W-where the hell am I?" Peko asked to himself as he was now trying to look for a way out.
"E...Emperor Nero..." A woman who was in the same state as the man and lying on the ground called Peko, also mistaking him for Nero. "P...please save us...Give us shelter..." The woman begged.
Peko ignored her too and his search for an exit started to give him more anxiety. Even after some seconds, Peko was now walking faster and faster as his feet would step on a unclean and messy ground and his ears tried to silence the voices from the other sick people begging him.
"Give us...clean food...Emperor Nero.."
"Give us...clean water...Emperor Nero..."
"Give us...health...Emperor Nero..."
"We all...love you...Praetor. I tought...you also felt the same..."
The delusions of the sick people didn't seem to stop. All this was making Peko extremely uncomfortable, almost at the verge of yelling them to shut up. "I..I've been tricked! This people here are all sick and got abandoned! I need to get out of here fast! Damnit, why did I had to believe on those two pricks?!"
As Peko was going around and trying every path only to pass through places he already has been to, going in circles, all the noise and voices of the sick people stopped as another noise appeard. The sound of metalic swords and armours.
Peko stood still, hearing the sound getting closer. As he slowly turned his head around, he saw from the bottom of the alley three roman soldiers appear right around the corner. Except the way they walked seemed unnatural. Their mouths were all open and the flesh was exposed. The three were in worse shape than any of the sick people here.
"Are they dead?!" Peko couldn't believe someone could still move their body in such terrible condition. "H-Hey! Do you hear me?" Peko tried to call the three roman soldiers.
All that he received were some agressive grunts and growls. No instance of a word coming from their tongues. Those soldiers were clearly long dead. Or half dead in this case.
Peko didn't waste time and his right arm shinned as he summoned his sword. "They don't seem to have a consciousness anymore. The only thing they are thinking now is killing me!" Peko got himself ready for the fight, sweating a bit. "First time fighthing alone. And against three enemies no less! If I lose here, I'm done for good!"
Peko took a deep breath as the undead roman soldiers slowly approached him. "Remember what Siegfried-san taught to you Peko. What you learned with Spartacus and Seneca today too! It's time I put all that learning into practice!"
With his mind seemingly on focus, Peko dashed torwards the trio of undead soldiers, raising his sword above in front of the first one. "Take this!" He yelled swinging his sword down. However, the enemy blocked it easily. Peko didn't enter in panic despite that.
"Just like Siegfried-san taught me..."
"When in battle you'll have to find the enemy's weak spots. You need to act fast since they generally don't show them for too much time. So when given the opportunity..."
Peko kicked the undead soldier's left leg, making his defenses go down. With many openings, Peko quickly striked his sword on the undead soldier's neck.
"...take advantage of it right there!"
With the throat sliced, the enemy fell to the ground, defeated and this time dead for good.
"Nice! First one is down!" Peko looked to the two remaining enemies in front of him. "Two more to go!"
Peko this time waited for the second one to attack. As their swords clashed Peko waited some seconds before unmaking the clash.
"Now, a useful technique to use while clashing with the enemy. If you are quick and smart enough, you can apply some strenght to your sword during the clash, forcing your opponent to also apply more strenght in his own sword. So in that precise moment, you quickly unmake the clash, caughting your enemy off guard and all opened."
Peko then horizontally cut the undead soldier's chest, the sword being able to cut the armour. "This one I have to thank Spartacus too. His muscles were really hard."
"That sword needs to be stronger in order to cut more powerful things young boy! You will need to train your weapon to the maximum so that one day it can even cut opression itself!"
And the second one was down. Only one remaining.
Peko cleaned the sweat from his face. "Phew! I don't even know why I was so afraid before." Peko smiled. "Things are actually going smoothly." He then looked to the last enemy. This one seemed a little bit stronger than the other two.
"Let's end this." Peko said as he went to slash the last undead in the shoulder. But this one enemy proved to be more difficult as Peko's sword didn't deal any damage to his armor.
"What?! My sword isn't cutting it!" Before Peko could try anything else, the undead soldier parried the hit and cut the boy's left arm, proceeding to punch him strongly in the stomach.
"Gghg!" Peko was sent with impact to a wall nearby of one of the houses, hitting the ground and letting the grasp on his sword go.
"K..Keh..! Damnit!" Peko slowly tried to get up from the ground. "He's definetly harder. How can I-uh?" Peko felt something wet and warm rolled down his face. As he touched his own face to see what it was, he felt his hand getting soaked. Looking at it, he saw his hand now painted in red. Painted in his own blood. That's when Peko started to feel the pain from his injuries. "G-gah! It hurts!" Peko flinched in pain as he looked at the blood.
"I'm..I'm bleeding aren't I?" This was the first time that Peko had been hit, injured and bleed. He knew it would eventually come the day were he would have to sustain injuries along the journey but he never expected to hurt this much. Now he knew how the rest felt while fighting in the first Singularity.
"C-crap! My body is hurting a lot! I-I can't ignore it!" Peko then heard the steps of the undead soldier as he watched the enemy starting to get closer to him. "How can I defeat him? My sword isn't strong enough to cut his armor." Peko then flinched again from the pain of his wounds. "D-damnit! Will I die here?!" The grim situation that Peko realized made the boy start to get nervous. "I can't do nothing! This pain is too much for me to bear!" Tears started to appear in his eyes.
"Fuck! I'm starting to cry again! I promised them I'd be stronger from now on, but guess I'll die as a weak!" Peko tried to grab his sword as the undead soldier was getting closer.
"I don't want to die! I don't want to be worthless! I-I'm scared! What Nala, Ritsuka or Mash would do in this situation?!" Peko then looked at the undead soldier that put his sword way up, ready to put him down. "Crap! I don't want this to be the end! I don't want to die as a pathetic weak kid!" Peko was in full panic, about to meet his end. "WHAT CAN I DO!?"
One Piece OST- To the Grand Line (00:00-01:56)
"It sounded more like a promise that came from the bottom of the heart. Of a kid that really desires to become stronger."
"!!!" Peko fist clenched as he went to pick up his sword. "What the hell am I even thinking?"
Peko's face of fear turned into one of courage and determination, a face that looked in the eyes of the enemy. "Our promise can't end here Ritsuka. This isn't the time to cry!"
His left arm started to shine. "I'd be dead if you all saw me doing this sad figure. If I want to be strong to protect anybody, the crying needs to stop now!"
He then pointed his arm that was glowing with such intensity at the undead soldier. He was concentrating a large amount of mana in it. "Whatever it takes, I'll need to stand up on my own from now on! I'll become stonger!"
With the arm fully charged and aimed at the enemy, Peko released all it's power. "AND IT WILL START WITH YOU!!!!"
A blast erupted from his hand and pierced right through the enemy's upper body who couldn't do nothing to stop. It was so powerful that erased his entire torso and face to ashes, also obliterating the roofs that where in it's way, going as high as the clouds above.
With all the enemies done and the blast gone, Peko fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. His whole left arm was also aching on the inside. He was lucky that all the mana he used on it didn't caused any significant damage.
"That's...the same arm that I use to cast my light balls. Was this...an evolution of it?" Peko wondered as the sun shined through the hole Peko's blast made on the roofs of the somber alley. This new move he discovered could open a lot of new possibilities now. At least until he could master his mana with success.
For now, Peko was just happy for winning a fight and surviving it. The boy looked at the sunny clouds and sun on the bright blue sky. "I won it, for all of you guys." He smiled weakly. "Wherever you are dad, I hope you saw this too."
Slowly getting up and feeling the left arm dormant, Peko heard some more noises. It seems things weren't about to get over. More of the same enemy appeard, this time being around ten units or something.
"They never end do they?" Peko sighed before pointing the sword at all the enemies in front of him. He was ready to fight, even in a weakened state. "Then come! I'm ready for any of you!" Peko this time wouldn't show any tears. This time, he would fight them face to face, eye to eye. Even if it was pratically impossible, he would still fight.
As the group of undead soldiers walked torwards Peko, ready to kill him, they all came to a stop. As if they were staring at something beyond their comprehension and horrifying at the same time, even if they were just some couple of undead people, they didn't took another step further. Paralyzed in fear for some seconds, wierdly enough all of them decided to retreat and dissapear back into the shadow corners of the alley, not daring to come any closer to Peko.
The boy himself was confused by this. "Am I really that frightening to them now?" Peko looked at both of his hands. "I just killed three of them. It's not like I'm super strong or anything for them to be afraid of me now."
Noticing something on the corner of his left eye, Peko saw a small gap between the buildings, allowing him to observe what was on the other side of them. Putting his eye close to the gap, Peko saw glimpses of the normal roman streets with people walking back and forth. But more importantly, the painting store.
"Is there! I finally found it!" Peko smiled all happily. "Then that must mean the exit must be around here somewhere." Before going, Peko looked at his clothes that were now dirty and the state of his body. "Nala will definetly not like to see me like this." He then looked at the huge hole he created on one of the houses rooftops. "And this alley will definetly need some rebuilding now."
And with that, Peko went away, not even bothering to look at what was behind him or what caused the undead soldiers so much fear that they retreated. And probably, it was better this way.
Shadow of the Colossus OST- Black Blood
A tall and gruesome shadow with monstrous features now stood in the place where Peko was previously. It's dark face only receiving shine from it's two deep red eyes that could haunt and daunt anyone who looked at them directly. Ten sharp horns were sticking out from it's forhead as well as a couple of spikes coming out from the demonic shadow's shoulders. It's presence was both macabre and creepy, but also mysterious. One could wonder what was this repugant shadow's purpose and business in here. Why did it appeard to those undead soldiers? What exactly was it? Did it come alone?
A nearby fly who was hovering over the spoiled food decided to fly higher and above the alley's rooftops. It went high and high until it was above the buildings of the area, only stopping it's travel once it landed in a finger. An almost meager and dark pitched finger, with only some small inches of normal skin showing. The fly rested it's wings as if the finger it landed on was the thing that was calling the insect. As if it was it's master.
A figure mostly covered by a dark rag, was standing at the top of the roofs, staring at the fly that had come to it's finger. The figure's aspect couldn't be exaclty described, as most of it's body, was as dark as shadow and clothed with the black rag.
"So that's what you beholded."
The shadow and mysterious figure touched the fly gently with it's other hand, before looking at the entire city of Rome surrounding it.
"The presence of a elevated sin, is nigh."
To be continued...
And that's it for chapter 22!
Now I know that what Peko did in this chapter may have not been all that amazing to some since all he did was defeating two enemies and a slightly more powerful one. But realize that this is Peko first ever battle...alone. Plus he only started to learn how to wield a sword basically not long a go, so he's still a noob but will get stronger and evolve as the story goes on. So don't expect him to already be out there throwing Mahāpralayas left and right XD
And also yeah Seneca knows how to fight but he isn't as strong as a servant. But he can handle himself pretty good. Oh, I was also thinking about putting a somber music while Peko was going around the alley, but I then felt that would start to go very into a creepy territory. Like I do not pretend this story to be some creepypasta or horror fanfiction, and this chapter at the end already was giving some horror vibes. (Or perhaps not if you are someone that watches horror stuff 24/7 with lights out and doesn't fear anything. In that case props to you) But what I'm saying is that while this story has fun, good hearted and light moments it will also have some scary/dark and serious ones. Altough I always felt that Fate and the Nasuverse in general always had a good chemistry with the horror genre despite the IP's never being full horror games themselves and that the average fan is accostumated with some mild horror.
So yeah, I will not go full horror/gore nor will I go full rainbows and lolipops with the story. It will keep a balance despite some chapters feeling more lighter or darker than the others. Also this classification is still aimed torwards teens, that despite some of them may have seen some gruesome shit by now before reading my story for the first time, I'd still like to maintain the same rating.
That's all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 23! Peace!
P.S: Lately I've been hearing some Imagine Dragons music. Damn how I've missed to hear those songs again.
